2006

DECEMBER 31   2006 : THE YEAR IN REVIEW

In looking back over my resolutions from last year, I guess I fell a little short.

1. I did NOT get down to a size six (although I have successfully maintained an 8! Well, in some brands, in others - well that is a different story, but it all averages out!)

2. I did NOT knit any intarsia or fair isle or any other sort of tricky colourwork.

3. I did NOT go to the city by myself (although technically, I travelled to the city by myself - twice - it's just that I had company whem I got there. Both times. Oh well, who wants to spend the day in the city alone anyway??)

HOWEVER, I did:

1. Send my mother monthly book packages

2. Add some yoga to my daily (or semi daily, or weekly, but who's counting) routine.
Not enough to be consistant, but it's a start...sort of.

3. Gave up diet soda (I did this mid-June). Actually that is not entirely true -I have one every few months or so, but I proved to myself that I could stop at any time!

3. Knit up 7 sweaters, 2 and 2 half pairs of socks, 3 scarves, 1 shawl, 1 handband, 2 pair of mitts and 1 felted project. Here are some of the ones that I am most happy with.

     

     

    

  

Which brings me to...PLANS FOR 2007!

1. Same as last year - get down to a size 6! (This will proably be at the top of the list every year until I die). I plan to do through through a combination of DDR, treadmill in the winter, walking in the summer, pilates and yoga. I would like to add hiking to my list this year - we'll see. I have also, in the last few days of 2006 , switched to a vegetarian diet. I did this 3-4 days ago and haven't seen any difference in how I eat anyway- I guess I don't eat alot of meat. I won't miss chicken, red meat or pork...well maybe sausage...I might miss fish but I don't eat that mush of it, and I can always get vegetarian sushi. So! We'll see if this will be a help or a hindrance to my diet plans.

2. Beginning January 1, 2007, I am embarking on a 6 month NO BUY. (mock me all you like, but who borrowed money from whom last year, eh??)  This means no frivolous purchases, no new yarn, perfumes, fun foods or boozes, no movies, no make-up - no ANYTHING that is not absolutely essential. In the past few days I have been in a sort of buying frenzy gearing up toward this, So be expecting packages of winter boots, CDS, tea, yarn, and I've already forgotten what all else, The Man!
The only exception to this is the continuing purchase of monthly book packages for my mother every month, I am giving myself a $20 allowance for this.

3. Use up every bit of yarn in my stash, and that includes ripping out the things I knit last year that I am unhappy with ( I am looking at you, Orangina!)

Some possibilities include:

   for my lovely mocha Reynolds Rapture - 13 skeins of for $36!

   for my my charcoal Morehouse Merino


  

DECEMBER 23    TRUE CONFESSION TIME

Okay, it's out...I don't think I like knitting for other people. Like many things, I like the IDEA of it, but not the actual reality. I like the IDEA that I am going to give them a little (or hugely, inadvertantly over-sized) hand-knit piece of proof of my love for them (whether they want it or not!) But the practical side of the matter is that I run out of time, I rush, it gets done half-assed, and it takes time away from the more leisurely knitting I do for myself.

So I have two options. Get started early (like NOW) for next year, work at my normal snail's pace, finish in a timely fashion and see how I like that...or just BUY things for people next year. Poor Mawga. She was getting a pair of felted, fuzzy slippers, but as with all of my felting endeavors thus far, something went awry. She's got one slipper that is way too small, and one that is way too big. I ended up using them as packing to cushion the cookies that I sent her. Cookies will always fit you!

Speaking of cookies...

  

  

  

  

  

Everyone is getting their cookie package a bit late this year, but they should be arriving any day now.

And speaking of packages, this showed up on my doorstep a few days ago:

  

It is a filmy, gauzy little thing with kimono sleeves that you can tie up or leave down ( I tried them down, it seriously looked like I needed to be stirring a cauldron or flying on a broomstick if I wore it like so. And hey- I am down with that!
I am imagining it with a dusy pink, vintage slip underneath and a pair of black ballet flats. I am sure I should wear heels with it, but I seriously hate heels and I won't mangle my feet if I don't have to.

Where will I wear it? I have no idea - I don't normally do things that require this sort of dressiness...I think that is going to be one of my resolutions for the new year - find someplace snazzy to wear this dress!

DECEMBER 16    SWEET, SWEET FREEDOM

SO! A day off ( I know it seems like I am always writing about my days off, and therefore, must enjoy them frequently, but nothing could be further from the truth)
I work 2 jobs, 7 days a week and have done so since before moving to NJ, so I am used to it...but the only chance I get to write leisurely is on a random day off here or there that I request at least a month in advance (unless I am sickly).
This will change in the new year, I think. Maybe every other Saturday off?
While I am by no means Miss Moneybags, I don't think 2 days off a month is going to send me to the poorhouse.

So, I was up at 8, bright eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to bake! Have to get a lot in; I am treating a friend to a birthday dinner (read: birthday wine & bread @ Bertucci's) and a movie, and as she is arriving around 5 this evening I have to get a move on!
The roster is a bit changed from years past; normally I make 2-3 of the old standbys and give 2-3 new recipes a whirl. Sometimes the new ones become the next years old stand-bys, sometimes I never make them again. Gratuitous cookie photos later.

The other night I made the most AMAZING soup - I happened to have quite a few mushrooms on hand, and it being a chilly night, I decided soup was in order.
Here are my notes:

  

Saute 1 onion. chopped fine in a bit of olive oil til translucent, add 2-3 cloves garlic minced fine, cook another minute or so. Toss in whatever herbs you have available, I added some fresh, chopped rosemary and a pinch or two of dried thyme. Add whatever mushrooms you have around - I had a package of buttons, a package of baby bellas, and a package of dried shiitake which I had been soaking in a bit of water. Chop the shiitake up a bit first, once they expand in the liquid they can get big. And ugly. SO stir the mushrooms in, add about a half a cup of rice (optional, it's probably fine without it, I just wanted a hearty soup). Stir to coat and cook for a another minute. Add 3-4 cups of whatever broth you have, including the soaking water from the mushrooms, and bring the whole thing to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 30 minutes, until rice is tender. Add a generous spash or two of white wine, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool and puree the soup in batches. For a chunkier soup (which is what I prefer), puree only half, and then add it back to the un-pureed stuff.

It might not look like much, especially if you prefer your food not to be grey or lumpy, but a mug of fragrant, earthy soup on a cold and foggy night while reading the Thirteenth Tale was the most relaxing evening I had spent with myself in quite some time.

  

I am glad to know that Mawga is out of the hospital now, released from rehab and resting at home. Hopefully her xmas slippers will reach her in time for the holiday...actually what I mean to say is that I hope I FINISH them in time!
All I need to do is knit up the toe on the 2nd one, weave in the ends, felt and block.
If I have time I will sew in a lining, if not...well she'll probably wear them over socks anyway.


  

DECEMBER 09    SANTA, BABY

A list, for you!

1. Le Creuset French Oven
(so I can make chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and no-knead bread)

  

2. Tourmaline Ionic Flat Iron
(because I straightened my hair in 10 seconds flat with Mary's, and AS WE ALL KNOW, it takes at least an hour with a blow dryer to acheive the same affect)

  

  

3. What To Drink with What You Eat
(carrying on the family tradition! Just kidding! I want this book so I can become a wine snob :P)

  

4. Melissa Moss Art Prints
(although I can't describe these, or how they make me feel, they just seem like...me)

  

5. Sock Yarn
(because...I don't have enough?)

6. Window/door hangings
(because The Man, I am tired of having a shower curtain in our kitchen entrance)

7. Victoria's Secret Flannel Pajamas
(because my velour pants are looking kind of ratty!)

DECEMBER 05    RECENT PURCHASES OF FULL-LENGTH MIRRORS SHOW

...that I am not nearly as big as I think I am!
I noticed that everyone I visited this past week had a full lenth mirror in their home...and believe it or not, I have never owned one! I also noticed that it is hard to get a good idea of how you REALLY look if you do not own one, and I was suprized to learn that although I am not tiny by any stretch of the imagination, I am not as big as I thought I was, either. A full length mirror for every room, I say!

While I was in FL an in Anthropologie, I tried this dress on:

  

Although I could BARELY get it over my head (and don't even ask me how I got OUT of it!), it settled over my shoulders, skimmed over my hips and floated around my knees. After cinching in the waist, it was beautiful. It was sublime. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen, even if I was still wearing my army green cargo pants beneath it. And I didn't buy it. It had a $148 dollar price tag, and I had seen it online, on sale for $99.
My plan was try it on in the store, see how it fits, and then order it online.
Great plan, right?

WRONG.
When I got back home, it was no longer on the site! I am so sad.
If anyone sees this dress in a size 8, buy it and I will pay you back, ok?
Even if it IS full price!

Speaking of my recent trip, here are some pictures. Let it be noted, I am not a traditional picture taker. Which is not to say I am all avante-garde and artsy-fartsy...I just don't take pictures of IMPORTANT things. See what I mean?

This was a sign I saw at Lake Eola. I like absurd signs.

  

This is a duck. I was trying to get a picture of a duck's butt for Jenn, but none of them came out. But I got a good shot of this lil guy!

  

I took tons of pics of BGF's home...it is very beautiful and inspiring how she has built such a lovely living space.  Very eastern and zen and relaxing and energizing all at the same time. I loved, loved loved the open-ness and light and seeing those filmy white curtains sway in the balmy evening breeze coming through the open windows. What a gorgeous place. I don't know why this is my favourite shot, but I can't stop looking at it.

  

So a few days after I get back, what happens? I am sick!
Took the day off and stayed in bed, mostly. Tongiht I am going to stick to my tried and true methods of pampering-while- sick. 1. Chicken and rice soup from the chinese restaurant up the road, 2. lemon-ginger tea with a HEAPING tsp. of raw honey, 3. a hot bath with a gingery beth melt.

DECEMBER 03     HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN (pictures later)

What a whirlwind trip down south! Some of the highlights included, but are not limited to: hanging with the grandparents, watching the ugly-hot new James Bond with Snelans, having drinks with a friend of my sisters whom I haven't seen in years, spending the whole day with a friend that I thought had dropped off the face of the earth, but thanks to Mary's persistence, we tracked her down and stalked her to...10 minutes up the road from Mary! Spending 2 whole days with BGF, shopping and eating and talking and meeting her scooting club, and she even gave me a tour of where she works. Not going to mention where, because I think that's some kind of hush-hush secret. Spending so much time with dear, dear Mary and being patiently driven around wherever I wanted to go, seeing my mom, being stood up by my mom...and wow. I am tired just thinking about it all again.

A lot of shopping happened. A LOT. Mostly for me. SO now that I am home I have to catch up on my work so that I don't go broke after all that indulging, and I also have to get on the ball with holiday gifts for other people! Lots of craftiness will ensue, but again it's all very secretive because I don't want to spoil any suprises.  Let's just say that there will be drilling, sawing, cutting, stenciling, knitting, decoupage and beading required. That's going to be one big, tacky gift, right? Ha, just kidding, they're all separate projects!

NOVEMBER 19    WTF????

Somehow I just lost 5 months worth of stuff here. I have no idea where it went.
This is upsetting and unsettling. Until i figure it out, here is my latest project:

  

  


>>Back to Mangolassie<<

AUGUST 20    PLAYING CATCH - UP

In the past 2 weeks I have:

fallen off the wagon, gotten back on it, fallen off again and dropped behind it by like two miles, caught up with it and may have ran past it; now I think I am just trotting along side it, companiably - I think the wagon and Iwere just not meant to be.
I am of course, talking about diet & exercise & shopping.

This was supposed to be the summer of health and wealth.  Get myself on the straight and narrow, so to speak, as far as finances and wellness. I think there have been a few set-backs, but all in all I would give myself a solid "B". I lost about 7 lbs, I eat several small meals a day now full of all different kinds of foods - fruits vegetables, whole grains, good fats, proteins; I stopped drinking diet soda, and for the MOST part of the summer I spent wisely and managed to save a bit. I mean, I guess I saved a bit...if I wasn't spending I was saving, right?

This time last week I was on a train to NYC to see my BGF; she was spending some time in the city with her boyfriend before taking off to NH for a wedding. What a whirlwind day! Time always flies when you are having a good time, and (of course) spending money. We met at Penn station, trekked around the city, did some shopping (new shoes!) did some eating (avocado-mango Gazpacho @ TeaNY ), and lots of catching up on each other's lives and gossiping of course. Does that make me awful? I am sorry; I LOVE the gossips. As Truvy in Steel Magnolias says " If you haven't got anything nice to say...come sit next to me!)

We also stopped by this amazing asian bookstore near Rockefeller Center ( I think), where I picked up 2 adorable Japanese knitting books. I wanted to get some sewing books and cookbooks as well, but that would be ridiculous, because not only do I not sew, I also do not speak Japanese. At least with the knitting I can look at the pictures and diagrams and so on.

Here they are in all their incomprehensible glory:

   

Here are some things inside the "Tekka & Wear" that I would like to make:
(all cats all the time...perfect for The Momster!)

   

 My yarn from handpaintedyarns.com arrived this week...they were beautiful, soft, and...stinky. I am letting them air out now, I am hoping that they WILL air out. I don't want to wrap something around my neck that smells like vinegar, that's for sure!

Here is the laceweight, in a beautiful brown/plum/green colourway:
(The Man helped me wind 850 yds of this into a center-pull ball the other night while we were watching Lost episodes. He's the best! Seriously, if it were me, I would have grumbled the whole time, but he did it with a smile. Amazing.)

   

I had originally intended this yarn for the "Basic Black Shawl" from Cherly Oberle's Folk Shawl book, but I had to admit defeat for the time being. It calls for you to cast on 8 stitches, using a "modified circular cast on", and then divide between 4 needles. Well once I got the hang of the cast on (which is actually very cool, it creates a perfect "O" in the center), but only 8 stitches? On 4 slippery needles? I can knit on DPNS, I really love them actually, but with only 8 stitches the needles flop around or get mixed up out of order, or the stitches get twisted and sometimes just plain fall off. I got a brilliant idea to work over a pieces of cardboard and pin down the 2 sides which weren't being worked on...that way they stayed put and I didn't end up knitting stitches from needle 2 onto needle 5. But it was just too fiddly...I think I am going to try the Noregian Box Lace Shawl instead.

I have learned to cable! I have also learned that you do not need a cable needle to cable, and you don't actually need any sort of traditional knitting instrument at all to cable; what's more, you don't even need a needle-like thing to cable!

I am working on the Rib and Cable Socks from Interweave Knits Fall 05 issue, using the Knitpicks Dye your Own that I dyed back in the early summer:

  

On the entertainment front I watched The Descent last week; Mary had called me up the week before to tell me that it was the scariest movie she'd ever seen! Having never even heard of it, my curiosity was instantly picqued. Well I went with a friend to see it last week-end, and while it was cetainly stressful and definitely gory... I wasn't overly frightened. Sorry Mary! I guess for it to scare me it's got to have no basis in common reality; maybe I am a nutjob but I can actually see someone getting trapped in a cave an running into strange carnivorous creatures. Is that crazy? Maybe. But it could happen! Also just finished up watching Battle Royale II and Oldboy. BR2 was not as good as the first one, actually I think it was a piece of crap, and as usual with strange Japanese films - alot of nonsensical philosphisizing. Oldboy, however, was a great movie...very intense, very Hitchcockian, and maybe a little gory. I think this was a Korean film; I have discovered that I am liking Korean directors moreso than Japanese.
Does that make me racist? I hope not.

Lastly, here is the REAL reason I bought those Japanese Knitting books:

  

AUGUST 6     OF MICE AND MEN (MINUS THE MEN)

So I am awakened from a deep sleep this morning by ...what? I am still not sure.
All I know is that all of a sudden I was wide awake. I glance over and see the cat staring intently at my fluffy hugging pillow that I must have let go of sometime during the night. I hear the tiniest rustle from the direction of the pillow and then out of the blue, the cat pounces on it!

I reach over without thinking and touch the pillow...and I feel something inside it move.
I grab the pillow case by the edges, jump out of bed, and make a run for the bathroom and begin shaking it over the tub. I see something grey tumble out and at first I think it is a lizard. No big deal! In FL there are lizards all over the place, no house is a home down there without a few scaly reptilian friends!

Then I glance more closely. Ears? Fur? Lizards do not have these things. This is...
A MOUSE!!

IN MY PILLOW!

After I disposed of it (not killing it exactly...more like scooping it up in a bowl, running through the house, and flinging it as far as I can from the back porch), I had the hardest time falling back asleep. I stripped the bed bare, checked under everything and although it seemed the coast was clear, I was sufficiently freaked out enough to find sleep very, very elusive.

Which, I suppose, is how I finished this:

  

Green Gable
Pattern: from Zephyr Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (Prarie Lupine), 2 and a tiny bit of the 3rd
Needles: US 5 circular
Finished: August, 6 2006

This was a fun little knit, and quick, realtively speaking....I think it took me about 2 weeks, on and off.  I learned the backwards loop cast on which I think is now my favourite, and I made just a few changes. Added a little bit of length (although still not enough, it is a little shorter than I would like) and a few more waist decreases. I also added just a bit of length to the sleeves as well. I made this in a small and with smaller needles than called for. It is pretty snug; if I'd had the larger needles I definitely would have used them!

Made this quiche for dinner tonight, the recipe is from The Three Hour Diet. It is incredibly good and hopefully somewhat low fat and low calorie, but I could not find the nutritional infos in the book. Mostly egg whites and skim milk ( since The Man only drinks whole milk, that was all I had. I just added alot of water to it, to make it "skim"), with the addition of low fat Bisquick. Also had lots of zucchini, tomatos and a whole gardens worth of chives. The verdict? Delicious!

   

AUGUST 5     THIS AND THAT

Not much going on over this way except maybe dissolving into a big mucky puddle of sweat. I did manage to finish Panta, right down to using my questionable sewing skills to attach one end to the other. Why oh why won't someone teach me to sew?

  

Also along the lines of keeping cool...in the hot weather, I cannot, canNOT eat hot foods. I just can't stomach them. And I am not exactly a picky eater, so this is really saying something. So this means lots of salads and fruits and so on. Also lots of ice cream and chips and dips, but we're really trying hard to put a stop to that.
Last night's dinner? Homemade guacamole and tortilla chips!

  

Despite the murky colour, the guacamole is quite tasty...and the whole thing is so easy to make!

Guacamole

2 ripe avacados
1 tsp minced red onion
few squirts lemon or lime juice
sea salt, to taste
-Halve and pit the avocados, mash up ( I use a potato masher to mash in all of the ingredients, actually) and add the other ingredients. Mix well, add salt to taste. Sometimes I add a few hot pepper flakes, sometimes not.

Tortilla Chips

1 flour tortilla,
cooking spray
Adobo seasoning
-Cut tortilla in half, then in half again, then again (8 triangles). Arrange on a foil lined baking sheet, spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with the Adobo, or seasonings of your choice. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

I was talking to my sister last night about avocados and she mentioned that she was "meh" about avocados; if she is going to eat something fatty, she'd rather eat some other kind of fatty thing. But avocados are "good fat"! As long as you don't eat a whole bag of them every day, they are actually GOOD for you! To quote from http://www.avocado.org :

"Avocados contain more than 25 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-Vitamins and folic acid, like most other fruit. But, unlike most fruit, avocados also provide mono- and polyunsaturated fats. These are considered a good alternative when they are substituted for saturated fats in the diet and total calories are kept in check."

So the NO BUY is finis for now. I broke it last week at Borders when I picked up a folk shawls book and a vintage sock pattern book. Last night I also bought these yarns from http://www.handpaintedyarns.com for when the weather turns:

   

The multi is the kettle dyed wool that is supposedly comparable to the Manos del Uruguay that sells for upwards of $15 per hank, but I got 2 for $7.50 each. I think it's because I am basically cutting out the middleman and buying it straight from the source? Also got some deep brown lace weight wool for the"Basic Black Box Shawl"
...except it was be brown. Black is a little bit too harsh for me, washes me out, so brown it is! Plus as BGF says, I'm all granola-y and earthy mama-y, so a nice loamy brun fits the bill just so.

 

JULY 29        "THE MELANCHOLY DAYS HAVE COME,

"...the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear."

Well, not really. I suppose it is just wishful thinking. It is only about 10:30 and it is probably pushing 90 outside, the sun is shining, I hear kids playing in the pool next door and a lawnmower across the street, and I just can't take any more of this.

Summer drains me. I don't like the heat or the sun or even the general atmosphere.
(Don't like the atmosphere of giddiness and fun? No, it's not that really, I am not a horrible troll of a person, but I really can't explain it.) I like a chill and a crispness in the air, the smells of ripe apples and smoke, the crunch of leaves underfoot, a taste of the year coming to a close. I like grey rain, I like a cold drizzle, I like a soft, reedy breeze through the neighbors windchimes, tinkling an autumnal haiku.

I imagine that The Man thinks it's a pretention or an affectation. Too many years of horror movies and HP Lovecraft and fairy tales and listening to celtic harp music and having imaginary tea parties in my head. Too much time in a household where astrology was a religion and where strange people came to lead yoga and meditation groups, a house where at any given moment someone, somewhere would be found (GASP!) curled up with a book in their hands. I can't REALLY like that kind of weather, he surmises, how can you not love a beautiful warm sunlit summer day?  A day with not a cloud in the sky?

I can "appreciate" such a day, it is true. They are quite beautiful. But those are not the sort of day I love, that I live for.  

THAT'S WHY THIS DANG SUMMER IS KILLING ME!!

But! Onto more positive things.

Lately I hate been TERRIFIED of the thought that I might one day be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I meet customers all the time who say to me "what can I do? What can I eat? How do I change my diet to deal with this?"   I hate the thought of contracting a disease in which it is basically all my fault that I've gotten it.

So, I have decided to take my fate into my own hands and drastically change my diet.
I TRY, but let's face it, we probably eat out several times a month, and on nights when I am too tired to cook I'll eat a handful of crackers and the ice cream factor in this weather is unbelievable. (Never mind all the Twizzlers I eat at the movies!)

SO about a month ago I switched to a Low GI way of eating.  I also have been trying to eat more often. For example:
- 3 slices of turkey bacon and an egg for breakfast,
- small baggie of dried apricots and raw almonds for a midmorning snack,
- half a whole wheat pita stuffed with tuna and lettuce and tomatoes for lunch,
- small yogurt and blueberries mid afternoon
- and a big ol salad for dinner. Usually my salads consist of mixed greens, coleslaw mix (the cabbage and carrots without the dressing part), tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and whatever protein that I've prepared for dinner.
There have been the occasional splurge...popcorn once a week, a glass of wine here and there, and last night I had some chocolate covered blueberries.  Also: lots of water. I gave up diet soda about a month ago also and since then my beverage of choice has just been plain old H₂0.

But - this has been suprisingly easy to do, because it is for my health! The wonderful bonus? I've lost about 5 pounds! Normally I would not note my weight, but I want to be able to look back next year and know that I have not gained it all back...
I am down to 137 from 141!  It would be nice to lose another pound or two before I see BGF next month (in the city! Whee!) but I am not going to push my luck.

On a closing note...another sign that I have reached old lady status?
I am totally coveting clothes from Eddie Bauer, like this corduroy dress for example:

  

And argyle sweaters from J. Crew:

   

Instead of being ashamed, i am embracing my inner Crone!
Now bring me my hearing trumpet!

  

JULY 28          THE HIP (REPLACEMENT) CROWD

It's been a long time since I've listened to the radio. In my car is usually just listen to marketplace reports or world news on NPR's local member station in NYC. Sometimes on a Sunday I will luck out and and hear "This American Life" or " A Prarie Home Companion".  My point being...I haven't listened to popular radio in a really, REALLY long time.

Yesterday I decided to take an impromptu day off (on a Saturday?? What was she thinking?? No one has a right to Saturdays off!) And while I was catching up on some computer related things I decided to take a look at those music videos that Yahoo lets you watch. Yes, i realise that I am the last person in the world to know this was available. Shut up.

Lordy be!  That was the worst stuff I've ever heard.
Even Shakira, whose gyrating hips and 12 inch long black roots have captivated my inner tacky bellydance goddess from day one - even she is pretty crappy nowadays.
The Nelly Furtado song? And BEYONCE? Everything she does is so dancy and catchy that modern pop music curmudgeon that I am, I usually like at least HER stuff.
But...nope. Nothing good.
To quote the old folks, it's all just a bunch of noise.

I try to look back to when I was 13, 14. What did I listen to? Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Slayer - a lot of big hair glam metal or speed metal bands. Would I listen to them today? Good grief. Probably not. SO I take comfort in the fact that these kids listening to AFI and JAY-Z and Q-TIP and YO YO or WHATEVER will be listening to The Brian Lehrer Show and The BBC World News report when they are my age.
It eventually happens to everyone right?
Except...maybe...the people making the music?

I guess they never grow up.

In a similar vein of keeping track of My Hobbies for the Aged and Infirm, here are some gardening picsof my first pepper and my first tomato!

        

Two gorgeous new patterns have come available that I would love to try...
Another Glampyre design in the beautiful Jade coloured yarn from Tilli Thomas (whew! $38 dollars a skein!)  I cannot justify making it for myself, this will have to be a gift!

      

And also this ADORABLE top from Zephyrstyle...this will definitely be for me:
(don't know what sort of yarn it calls for, pattern is not yet available!)

  

JULY 26         MY KINGDOM FOR A USB CABLE!

So I have this super fancy little camera that BGF sent me and then The Man went out and bought me a memory card (would you believe that I NEVER had one of these for my old camera? I was using the internal memory, which meant I would have to upload every 25 pictures!) Now I have been running around snapping photos like crazy and I cannot upload them! Where is this elusive USB cable? Did I lose it? Am I a complete moron? Who knows? Amazon has them for about $13, but I am wondering if there is a more immediate solution. But maybe not; I am itiching to place an amazon order anyway ( I am rewarding myself for 4 weeks of no frivolous purchases AND finishing two projects!)

Speaking of which...

My finished Tulip! (There is a reason that Manny here is wearing a dog collar. But I can't tell you what it is. We don't mistreat her, I swear!)

   

Tulip
Pattern: Tulip
Yarn: Katia Jamaica, 2 1/4 skeins
Needles: US 6 circular
Finished: July 24, 2006

Once again, a project in which I did not, would not, swatch, and I paid the price. I was 1 inch away from finishing when I took a look at the big picture and said "hmm, this is not working. Too short, too wide. Back to the drawing board! You'd think I'd learn to swatch by now, but eh, I just don't like swatching. I'm an ORGANIC knitter. I'm here for the PROCESS. Haha, that's what I tell myself anyway.
This was challenging for me. Without many garments under my belt, I found the dividing the front and back a little difficult to understand...so challenging in fact that the neckline is way lower and wider than it is supposed to be, so that when it is on it is more like a vest and I definitely need to wear a little tank underneath. Suprisingly enough...IT FITS PERFECTLY. I am a very loose knitter, so I went down a needle size (should have been 7s), AND I knit the smallest size. My actual size is more like a medium, but I know by now that if I am knitting myself something, just make the smallest size. Or else swatch. Again, haha!

Next up we have the fitted tank:

   

Fitted tank
Pattern: Blue Sky Alpaca Fitted Tank
Yarn:Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton, 2 1/2 skeins
Needles: US 8
Finished: July 26, 2006

This also fits me perfectly which is somewhat ironical since it is not for me!

In addition we have 1 finished Jaywalker. I didn't go down a needle size because I didn't know that I actually have a very VERY old set of size 0 dpns. Oh well, for the next pair I suppose. These are a little baggy, but in the winter I can wear something underneath them.

   

I think I had more that I wanted to record here for posterity but I've forgotten what.
Oh! Here is my "new" bedside table...I haven't had one for awhile and I like the thought of being able to wake up at 3am, switch on a little light and record any and all strange dreams. The Man brought this little table home for me and I decorated it, to the best of my pitiful decorating abilities. I know that lemon balm is supposed to make a restful sleeping tea, but I figure it's also appropriate for a "dream stand". Well, it smells nice anyway!

  

JULY 15         STRINGS AND CEILING WAX AND OTHER FANCY STUFF, OH!

I may just have an addiction. Not to shopping, per se. I think it's just the thrill of having new things. It's not the thrill of the chase ("...oh, if I could only find that oerfect pair of jeans/sling-backs/oversize sunglasses"). No, it's more in the lining your new purchases up on your bed and oohing and aahing over the new loots. And of course your bed must bed fully made complete with military corners in order to display these new goods, otherwise you are not doing the new things justice.

SO far it's been 3 weeks without frivolous fripperies. Almost everyday I go to various sites, heart pounding, and fill up that little shopping cart, yet something keeps me from finishing the transaction. Stick-to-it-tive-ness? Naaah. I haven't got too much of that.
I just don't want to give up on myself on this particular life item. I know I can do this.

Oh how I am longing to pet various hand-painted sockyarns and rub them all over my face (seriously!), I want some vintage beads to play around with, I have a whole list of books that my library doesn't have, I found my American Apparel shirts 40% off and I discovered an incredible new scent.

The deal? Buying for myself is out...but for other people? Ah! There's the loophole!
Normally I have a policy though, when doing this kind of shopping; it goes a little like this: "One for you, 5 for me..." But you know, I am not worried, I'll be ok.

One reason it has not been so tough is that I keep getting unexpected little packages - usually things I had ordered awhile ago and just forgot about. But then, this doozy came in yesterday:

BGF saw fit to grace me with her old camera! Holy toledo...and it's not even really OLD!
I think I am going to pass along the karma by sending my (still working just needs batteries)camera to someone who doesn't have a camera. However, unlike the camera I just received which has cords, cases, software instructions, etc, MY old one doesn't even have the BOX, let along all that other stuff!

  

This was all taken with the old camera still, so who knows the next picture - might be 1000 times less indistinct! Let's keep our fingers crossed. So what do we have here?
A stack of cds, DJ spinnystuff I presume ( I will get her back by sending her lots of folky stuff! Ha, I jest...I like ambient/dancy/DJ-ish stuff too, but if you compare this stack to a stack of my own they are very much different!) some "ugly booties" to keep my feet warm in the winter, some "Bee & Flower" soaps, some glitsy tabi socks (this is funny, but I won't say why just now, hee hee!), some vanilla incense, some little containers that say "how are you?" en francais, several packets of earl grey milk tea (so excited to try this!) and a luscious smelling body spray from B&BW. Normally I don't go for tea scents...they smell too "clean" and if you know me then you know I either like to smell like a powdery marshmallow or else a head shop full of nag champa. But this "white tea and ginger" scent is really, really nice. The initial spray is a little sharp, but the dry-down is so soft and pretty. This is totally my new sumer fragrance!

As an aside, BGF, or Best Good Friend is something I think that Forrest Gump said about Jenny. I thought it was one of the sweetest, most sincere way to express the way you feel about your dearest friend...And was their ever a more sincere person than Forrest? I do not think so!

I don't know yet how I will top this, but there are schemes afoot!

JULY 7              PICTURE POST  

As my camera is working again (it was just the batteries, duhhh), here are my last few days projects.

1. Gâteau au Yaourt à la Myrtille, via Chocolate & Zucchini.  As usual, the middle is undercooked.  I am a very impatient baker I guess.

  

2. Melissa had asked me some sort of jewelry question which sort of lit a fire under me to make...something. SO there it is: I made A Thing. Also made an adorable little katamari bracelet with beads from BGF, but my wrist photographed fat so it is not pictured. I am getting much better at attaching clasps and wrapping wire so I am thinking more jewelry more often

   

3.  A few years ago I had the most amazing drink, it is known as the national drink of Brazil - the caipirinha. It is made with a booze derived from sugarcane, sort of like rum except that rum is supposed to be made from molasses. For the drink you slice a lime into chunks, put them in a small glass with a bit of sugar and muddle them together with the back of a spoon.  The add 2 oz of the cacacha and bottoms up!
Here is my version, made with rum instead:

   

4. A friend gifted me with some fresh fava beans and some authentic greek spices and greek olives (all the way from Greece, seriously!) so I threw together a dinner with it.
Coat chicken in spices and saute in olive oil, when it is cooked through, add the olilves and a can of diced tomatoes, so simple! For the fava beans, saute garlic and onion in a little more olive oil than you would normally use, add the fresh beans and cook for about 5 more minutes, then add salt and pepper to taste. They were AMAZING!

   

JULY 3              AUNT MAUDE'S CURTAINS 

When I was growing up, my mother and my grandmother would take 3 little girls shopping sometimes; there was a certain phrase that they would reference from time to time in regards to ugly print or fabric, they would compare it to "Aunt Maude's curtains".

Now, who was Aunt Maude? I do not know. I know I don't have an Aunt Maude, and I don't think my mother did either. It must have been some weird turn of phrase or inside joke. But it's stuck with me for the longest time - I think because I've always LIKED the idea of these mythical curtains. They would have large, loud flowers on them and they would be in obnoxious colours and people just wouldn't get them.
I think Aunt Maude and I might have gotten along famously. I think I discovered her curtains.

   

So, for the time being Tha Man is letting me borrow his camera; we are going to do some research and choose something really nice to replace the broken one, but in the meantime his is pretty nice too, so I won't fret.

Slow going on the knitting front; I am having a bit of a crisis in that nothing I finish seems to be turning out right. So I am stepping back a bit, slowing down and just trying to enjoy the process. Also, trying to PAY ATTENTION to the process, so I stop making dumb mistakes. For example.  In one weeks time I had knit up an entire top only to discover it was both too short, and too wide. Thusly and so, it has been frogged and I have to start all over again.

  

SO far I have not had any problems with this one, but I've put it aside for the time being because all of these ill-fitting tops have depressed me so much. Fortunately it is not for me, so who cares how it fits?!   Ha, just kidding. That actually makes it even more important!  It is a lovely pale aqua which really does not come across in the photo.

   

With all the rain lately (certain parts of NY were declared states of emergency, I hear) my garden has been growing at what must be an abnoraml sort of rate. I think my tomatoes grew a foot in the span of two days! Here are my strawberries:

   

my lavender is ready for harvesting:

    

and here are my mini roses from the other day:

   

So I have two more days off and again, I am at a loss what to do with myself. We watched Lost til 2 in the morning yesterday so I want to take it easy on the television today. I think I am going to do some research...I heard that you could grow your own stevia, so I would like to give that a shot; also I would like to try my hand at growing my own echinanea and making tinctures out of it, it's probably very complicated but I think the end result would be worth it.

I am also hoping to get some time to learn how to use this sewing machine I have. My dream? To make a frilly apron just like this:

  

Yes, I realise I am probably setting the cause back, by like, 200 years.

   

JUNE 30 IF A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS, WHAT IS A BROKEN CAMERA WORTH?

The Man had given me a pot of miniature roses for my birthday; I thought that by the time I planted them it was too late, yet into the ground they went anyway. A month later the leaves are glossy and green and beautiful red blooms are starting to peek through the little green buds. I wanted to take a picture of it to document for myself that a. the legend of Sarah of the Black Thumb is so much bunk and just simply not true at all, and b. with a little love and care you can coax beauty out of something that looks like a great big dead mess.

BUT MY CAMERA IS BROKEN.
How did this happen? I do not know.  Again with the making of my "No Buy" very difficult. I technically started this, as I told my sister, to keep a check on the silly things that I indulge in - namely perfumes, candles, incense. I really have a weakness for these things; when I was growing up I vowed to myself that I would never live in a house that smelled like cat shit and so maybe there are some issues here that need to be worked out, eh?

Well I will think on this, but, I really do need a camera.

Onto other things, I found this referenced by (who I think is) a very talented knitter:

"In the elder days of Art
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part,
For the Gods see everywhere."

And it really made me think.  I sent it to Melissa with the note that explained the quote having to do with why I have been so unhappy with the work I have finished lately, to which she replied:
"You mean you see art as a form of worship? Or at least an expression of the divine?"

after thinking I minute, I said this:
"more of a divine expression sort of thing, and you know, "god is in the details" and so on.
i look at that poem and i see people creating perfect things for perfect beings, because maybe, that makes them feel a little bit perfect themselves. not to say that god hates you if you are not perfect, but maybe the harder you aspire toward perfection, the closer you are to god. not that i am thinking all these things while i knit, or bake, of course, but when you really get into it - when the stitiches are flying off the needles, when you've got fresh kneaded dough in your hands...you do feel a sort of ..."zen" if you will. a sort of spiritual thing, at least peace wise. so maybe it's in the process. maybe the process itself is perfect because it puts you, in your head, and just for a little while, in a place of perfect peace. "

I think I contradict myself quite a few times in there, but I will be the first to admit I am no great thinker. I think on something for a bit, and if I can't make sense out of it, I file it away under "subconscious". It might come to me in a dream, it might come up in conversations, and maybe I might just never think on it again.

But this particular issue has been troubling me alot lately because it hits me right where it hurts - that it really, REALLY stinks to do a lousy job on something that you love doing.

Thusly, I will be taking apart my finished Matcha-Ina. I think I seriously die a little inside each time I look at it, because it is not AT ALL what I envisioned. As it is now, I will never wear it, so what is the point?

I'll end this on a somewhat happy note. Before I started my No Buy, I bid on something on eBay and won it! It arrived yesterday...2 of the pieces are broken, but for the most part it was a great bargain and so cute!

   

JUNE 20          A MATCHA MADE IN HEAVEN

Introducing the Orange (Matcha) -ina!
Behold, my first knitted garment, EVER.

  

Orangina
Pattern: Glampyre's Orangina
Yarn: Rowan 4 Ply cotton, 4 balls "Cooking Apple"
Needles: US 3 circular
Finished: June 19, 2006

Also, from a recipe via my Martha, here is my rhubarb compote. It was divine over a small spoonful of Hagan Daaz Vanilla Bean ice cream. Yes, that is probably why my arms are looking a little chunky in the above photos.

  

JUNE 19     I PICKED A BAD DAY TO STOP SNIFFING GLUE

...remember when the guy from Airplane! kept saying that? Well, that is how I feel -
I picked a bad time to embark on a NO BUY.  As in, see how long I can go without buying anything except groceries and necessities, bills, etc. I made my last big purchase from IKEA online, this cute little coffee table:
   
And before anyone asks if I really NEED this coffee table, consider this: the coffee table that is currently in use is actually a piece of lawn furniture given to me 3-4 eyars ago by my best good friend. She couldn't even believe it when I told her I was still using it!
SO! I am taking that to mean that she WANTS me to get a new one. And I can't let her down, right? because it's for HER, not ME, right??

So, ok. Big purchase down, time to buckle up, suck it in and lock up the plastic, right? (that's a little inaccurate, I don't own credit cards, everying is either debited or cash, but still..it's the principle of the thing). Anyway, I am ready to DO THIS THING, when...I came across these incredible shopping sites. I mean they are just awesome. They are SO ME. This is going to be really hard...

I am hoping that I can shop vicariously through someone else, so please indulge me:
http://wittywhimsy.blogspot.com/
http://www.ohjoy.blogs.com/
http://decor8.blogspot.com

This is particularly hard for me right now because I am dying to decorate. I mean of course I have a budget, oh say, a garage sale type of budget ("What? 25 cents for that? Will you take a dime???") But the thing is...I can't. I don't have style or panache or...good taste even. I told my sister over the phone that I would actually pay someone to re-decorate my place for me. She thought I was nuts, actually both of them did. They could throw together an awesome place with their eyes closed and their hands tied so they just don't get it.  I was looking at what I have and what I know I like and I was trying to come up with a word to describe what I am looking for...it's sort of retro shabbychic meets vague ethnic influence. I like earthy tones -browns, taupes, beiges, tans - punctuated by bursts of olive and rust. Oh I dunno. Let's face it, unless there's some sort of intervention my place is still going to have the yarn in every corner and piles of books on the tables and same old crap 20 years from now.

 

JUNE 18      GNOME SWEET GNOME!*

Ok, the brief but image-heavy version:
Got some unexpected but much needed time off at primary job (still have to work at secondary job which sort of sucks but I'll take what I can get).

Friday - had the whole day off. Puttered. A lot. Man, I love to putter.  Woke up at 6:30, went on a walk, drove to the bagel store, drove to Evil Wal-Mart, came home and fixed us a big ol' greasy breakfast. Planted some tomatoes, lemonbalm and cilantro.
Well, let me clarify. I can't seem to commit to actually breaking ground for a garden, so I am container-gardening (except my herb-garden sandbox... but still, that's sort of still like a big container). SO here is a peek of things to come:
(the pic is a little scrunched, click to enlarge)



I can't for the life of me remember what I did with the rest of the day. Just generally relaxed, sat outside and knit a bit. Finished Miss Matcha-ina and set her to blocking:

   

Pestered The Man until he hung my spice rack:

  

And Melissa, this is for you:

  

Saturday night I went out with a friend for dinner and movies; we went to what we thought was going to be a little glorified fast food restaurant of a noodle house - I pictures us pulling up stools to a bar and slurping up greasy noodles. WRONG!
It was not a noodle house, it was The Noodle House. And I had the most amazing dish,I think it was Indonesian, called Bami Goreng. Noodles with bean sprouts and shrimps. And I had a drink called the Green Monster: starfruit and kiwi and TAPIOCA BALLS! Afterwards we saw A Prarie Home Companion. As a movie it was just ok, but I looked at it more as the closest I will ever get to actually seeing the radio show ( I listen to it every week-end!)

More to come! In the meantime, these are some fun links that I am using to keep track of things:

Hintbug - a wishlist where you can add links from any site anywhere and add pictures and links as well. Good to keep track of all the things I would eventully like to pick up for myself

43 Things - A place for keeping track of goals and to-do lists and things like that. Note that I only have 23 things on my list right now but in a day I will be able to cross one of them off!

*It is the end of an era; good bye Hello Kitty, HELLO LAWN GNOMES!

JUNE 10        THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!

   

Ha, fooled you, it's HENNA!
The Man, bless his long -suffering heart, hennas my hair for me and thought this was a very funny image.  If you find potty humor amusing, that is.
And who doesn't??

(By the way, the hair turned out stunning, The Man always does a very good job!)

JUNE 10            JUNE GLOOM

The weather up in these parts is SO WEIRD. At least in Florida you knew where you stood; come May, it was ON. Actually come April I guess. But you knew you were in for heat, humidity, summer afternoon showers and hurricanes. Florida? MISS YOU!!
Ha, I am not joking. I sort of do miss the predictable weather patterns. But here?
I just don't know what to think. It's been raining on and off for two weeks straight (as an aside, I am the only one, who when someone starts a sentences with "it's raining...", in my head I add "...men! Hallelujiah! ") No? Ok then.

Anyway grey and gloomy all week long. And this morning, while it seems to have cleared up, it is CHILLY outside. Also, this morning, when I was talking to Mary on the phone I happened to peek out the front window and couldn't believe what I saw. "WHAT THE SHIT?!?!" I shrieked, still not convinced I wasn't seeing things. I ran outside, and sure enough...my car had been Saran-wrapped.  Except, the Saran-wrap bandit got bored and only wrapped it twice around my car, tucked it under the windshield wiper and went on his merry way. My first thought was to be furious, but it was just too freakin funny. Didn't anyone ever tell this person that A Job Worth Doing is a Job Worth Doing Well? Two seconds and a pair of scissors later it was taken care of. Good grief.

Anyway, as I was saying...Lordy be! Chilly in JUNE! To my (still) Floridian mind this is somewhat like the sky falling. But I am not complaining. The less hot weather, the happier I am. Except for knitting, because who can knit in hot weather???

That's a stupid question. Because you know I can:

   

They're the Jaywalker socks from Magknits that everyone else has knit except me.
Using my hand-painted yarn and tiny size 1 needles.
I say "everyone" but that's just in internet terms. I do not actually know anyone in real life who knit these up so I should not feel so pressured or competitive.
I think I might be a little bit crazy.

On Thursday I was on my way home and got a call from The Man. Apparently the landlord was over and as we all know when the landlord is over WE HIDE!
We can't be available to chat, to visit, even to complain, because then he will want to come in and then he will see Miss Inkers. Who, incidentally is not actually living here.
Mr, Fredericks if you are reading this, we do not, I repeat, DO NOT have a cat.
So anyway if he comes in, he may see this cat whom we do not know and does not exist:

  

On a typical day this is what she is doing, right in very plain sight : shedding on a pile of clean laundry. Yes, yes, if it were folded and put away then she wouldn't be able to do it. See what good parents we are?? See how much we love her??

So The Man snuck out and I met him at a movie theatre 5 minutes away. We dined on popcorn and sodas and 2 hours of X Man Wolverine in tight pants later, the landlord was gone!
It was actually a very nice spontaneous little date, we should do it more often!

JUNE 4   I AM A SOCK MONSTER

First it was just plain old funky socks. I used to order them by the dozens. Striped, printed, lace, tall, short, I needed them all!

But now that I can make them myself, well that is a different sort of obsession all together! So without further ado...

         

Embossed Leaves Socks
Pattern: Interweave Knits Winter 2005
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Pumpkin
Needles: US 3
Finished: June 4, 2006

The orange socks and pasty ankles are mine, obviously. I just wanted to compare my socks side by side with the actual pattern. I think this is the closest I have ever gotten to something looking like how it is supposed to!

JUNE 2   STUFF AND THINGS

A knit-free post!

My refrigerator is a strange juxtaposition of very disparate items (I've caught the spelling bee buzz, can't you tell??) Ok, so in plain english, the stuff in my fridge makes no damn sense. It's some fucked up shit!

I was eyeing it yesterday while looking for something to eat - isn't it funny no matter how many times you open the refrigerator door and stare at the contents, there's nothing new that wasn't there the last time you looked, about 10 minutes earlier?
When you're hungry you get stupid, I guess.

Anyway, I was casing the joint for a snack and I saw that right next to whole milk there was a box of Vitasoy milk, next to the pork roll was a tub of tofu, a loaf of gluten free hemp bread next to the white flour Thomas english muffins. In the freezer we have the Quorn "chicken" patties next to the actual chicken, the Boca "burgers" next to the Nathan's hambrugers and the Toffuti frozen non dairy desert next to the Edie's Ice Cream.

You think that someone here either was a vegan, a vegetarian or else has alot of weird food allergies. Nope! I just like to try new things! And believe it or not, PORK ROLL IS A VERY DELICIOUS TASTY BREAKFAST ITEM! I think you can only get pork roll in NJ though.
Another good reason to be here!

Some new things that I have tried lately and highly recommend?

The Quorn "chicken":
These are so good! Maybe it has to do with the fact that I actually baked them as opposed to microwaving them like the others that I have tried...but the textrue was perfect...exactly like those breaded frozen chicken patties that you are not supposed to eat because they are full of fillers and fat and calories but oh so very yummy.
They were not bland at all, and I think there's only like 160 calories or so.
I f you care about things like that.

Tofutti Cuties:
These are so good! ( This is why I'd never make a good "reviewer"..."This is so good!" is the highest praise I can come up with)
They taste exactly like the chocolate-on-the-top-and-bottom-with-vanilla-ice cream-in-between ince cream sandwiches that are good to have around in the hot summer months! What makes these great is that they are portioned smaller and only 120 cals. They are trans-fat and cholesterol free too and that is never a bad thing.

Vitamuffins:
I receive the Hungrygirl newsletter and she just won't shut up about these, so I had to try them. Not because I actually trust what she has to say, I just wanted another reason to write in and complain to her. Which I do often. It seemed like all she used to feature were these very processed (although dietetic) items and I thought that seemed a little strange for someone who seems to promote a healthy lifestyle.
She has since gotten snarkier with her newsletters. Now when she features something, she pretty much says "ok people if you don't like it, you don't have to buy it". Strangely enough I respect her alot more! I guess her thing is not fresh foods. That's ok, I get it.
Most people are looking for alternatives to their sugary or salty or fatty snacks - and she certainly delivers as far as that go. SO Hungry Girl, I am really sorry for harassing you, ok??

Anyway, the Vitamuffins. I bought the cranberry bran one (she really gushes about the chocolate ones, but this is for breakfast and I am not going to eat chocolate for breafast. Since I am , you know, so principaled and all and it's not like I never eat pizza for breakfast, but whatever!) So for a box that cost around $5, I got 4 frozen muffins. Right off the bat I am put off because, hello? I could make a dozen muffins for half the cost? But having said that I probably cannot guarantee that they will be only 100 calories and contain 4-5 grams of fiber. That would take alot of experiementing, and by then I would have spent alot more money. SO!
I microwaved one for breakfast the other morning and had it with a cup of coffee.
Wasn't the best thing I ever tasted, wasn't the worst. It was ok. It was an ok investment I guess because I rotate my breakfast items and I can save them for when I need something really quick. At that rate I could buy a box of 4 and they would last a month.

Ha! Even when I am not writing about knitting I am pretty boring!

Oh, and I forgot to mention...

Chocolove Crystallized Ginger in Dark Chocolate Bar :
I always try to keep dark chocolate in the house. There are worse things you could have around, sweets wise, and it is supposedly full of antioxidants (until the next study comes out claiming it is full of carcinogens! Oh and btw...just because it says "organic" doesn't mean it's all that great. If you are a fan of Dagoba chocolates, you should know that they recalled alot of their products - the eclipse bar, etc. - due to an extremely high lead content. It's reformulated now, but check your labels to make sure you are not eating old, LEADEN chocolate!)
Anyway slightly sweet, slightly bitter dark chocolate + sugared spicy candied ginger chunks is divine. A weird combination you might think, but just give it a try.

Not a food, but I have to mention it anyway, American Apparel:
I tend to like plain coloured things that have sort of a classic look to them - that way I can wear them next year, the year after that and so on. Every once in a while I will fall prey to a fad, but for the most part I like the look of timeless pieces.
I bought two tops from here and I am so impressed. They are sweat-shop free, they are the softest cotton ever and they are so flattering. The only downside is that they are a little bit expensive. But for something I can wear for a good long time I think it might be worth it. I plan on eventually replacing my whole wardrobe with their stuff!

MAY 27   DYING YOUNG

A few weeks ago, a friend and I had gone out for thai food. We were making an evening of it - dinner then some really bad movies and, of course, cocktails.
(They make awful b-movies more palatable). We were also supposed to be experimenting with dying yarns, but due to the late hour and the vast queue of bad movies ahead of us, I remarked "I guess we can't dye yarn tonight."
My friend whipped her head around and said "What?? We can't DIE YOUNG tonight??"

I guess she mis-heard me.

But today I did! Dye yarn, not die young!

The process was simple enough, it just took me so long to get around to because I tend to think about things. And keep thinking about them. Until the doing of them becomes this great huge thing in my brain that could never even come close to the reality of the thing. And this is just the colouring a fiber; imagine how I'd be planning a wedding!

I think next time around I will definitely stock up on kool-aid, I only purchased one packet of each colour, so they are not as vibrant as I had hoped for. Also, one was SUPPOSED to be a solid colur all the way through, the other was supposed to be striped, but that did not quite happen either.

SO:  

  

The end results?

  

The one on the left (TUTTI FRUITTI) is pink lemonade + tropical punch + orange + lemon ice, the one on the right (PINK SUGAR) is blue raspberry lemonade + black cherry. I plan on making this and this with them, respectively.

MAY 27   KNITTING VS. ROCKET SCIENCE

My sister always talks me up to people about how crafty and creative I am, which, in part is true, because, well, I like crafty things, but it's not quite the same thing. And the creativity, well, I don't know about that either because let's face it :
I FOLLOW PATTERNS.

But being a craftoholoic does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with being a miss smartypants. Oh no. Because if it did, I surely would not be in the precidament I am in now.

Behold the finished Orange(Matcha)ina:

  

You may not be able to tell, but this thing is ENORMOUS. "Yooouge", as Donald trump might say. How did this escape my notice the entire time I was working on it?
Well...it didn't, truth be told. A nagging little voice kept saying to me "you know...this is looking kinda big..." but I squelched that voice. "Hush!" I told it.
And now look what I've had to do:

  

What took me a month to knit only took about 20 minutes to rip out. And so, I've started over. Making the smallest size called for and I've tried to not knit so loosely.
The funny thing is, I am glad that I did. The pattern looks more pronounced now and everytime I find a mistake I am fixing it as opposed to the old "Oh? A dropped stitch? I'll pick it up on the next row!" method.

As a belated birthday gift, my co-worker took me for my first pedicure, ever!
Behold! The colour is OPI "Most Honorable Red"

  

And here is a shot of my pepper plants. I grew these from seeds I had scraped out of a green pepper that I had for a stuffed pepper dinner about 2 months ago!

  

  

MAY 17   SO THIS IS 30?

So far I have been 30 for 5 days. It feels pretty much the same as half a lifetime ago, except I was paying my electric bill at work today instead of quaking in my shoes thinking of speaking in front of my french class.
Conclusion? 30 is the same as 15 except it costs more to live and 5 years of french got me nowhere.

I took the day off for my birthday...the night before The Man had taken me for dinner to Spain 92. Paella and sangria! It was delicious. The next morning, I woke up to this:

   

and this:

   

After leftover danishes for breakfast ( my coworker has presented me with a HUGE box of the the day before), we set forth on Adventures for my birthday. Actually they weren't the exciting kind, but they were the fun-spending-a-day-with-your-loved-one-running-errands kind.  Which is fine with me! Just about every branch of our credit union has closed so we spent the afternoon tracking down some place to make a deposit, and afterwards we had lunch at a lovely little Malaysian place. The food there is never that great ( I had mango-shrimp curry) but there is just something about the atmosphere that I love. Then we trekked out to Wegmans. The Man could not believe I had never been there...and oh my goodness...they had EVERYTHING! Artisinal cheeses, gorgeous produce, an organic section and JAPANESE SNACKS!

The rest of the day was spent at home doing what else? Knitting. Ah! Bliss...

Oh, and the haircut.  THE HAIRCUT.

I wanted this:

  

and what I got was a complete fiasco.  I won't go into details and I sure as shoot won't post a picture but imagine if someone put a bowl on your head, cut the front of your head from ear to ear and left the back long?

Yeah. I've been be-mulletted.

What made it all better? the next day I went into work and found a huge package waiting for me courtesy my best good girlfriend! It was jam-packed with goodies, everything from yarn to beads to books (I alerady finished the first one, hee!) to, of course, Hello Kitty.

You're never too old for Miss Kitty! (<--I typo'ed "knitty" instead of "kitty" at first. I have serious problems)

MAY 12   OF BIRTHDAYS AND BAD HAIRCUTS

Turned 30, got a really bad 'do...details at 11!

 

MAY 7   THAT'S PROGRESS, SUGAR

(As a young adult, if you ever read The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations, by Ellen Conford, then you will recognize the title of my post)

Ok, progress report time!

Orangina:
Finished front, am about 1/4 through the back, except that I think I am going to have to rip it out and start over again. Somehow I keep missing YOs or something, because I am ending up with either too many stitches or too few. And knowing me, instead of just admitting I screwed up, I either M1 or k2tog to fix it. Since it's the back, does it even matter? I mean...I have really long hair!!

Hourglass Sweater:
Th is was the sole reason I trekked to PurlSoho in the city. I wanted to get the book that this pattern was in, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. And I only wanted the book for this particular pattern. Luckily for me, there are some other great looking knits in there as well, so it's not a one-trick pony. One hit wonder? Whatever.
However, I did not realise that the authoress of this book is also the same woman who owns the store. So when I asked at the counter "do you have a copy of Last minute knitted gifts?" they must have thought I was stupid to end all stupids. How could they not have it?
Sorry guys! I didn't know!

Anyway. A few months ago I had purchased 9 skeins of Shine, a sport weight cotton blend from knitpicks and I totally forgot why! So I figured, why not make the hourglass sweater a nice summery type sweater. Well, chilly-evernings-in-early-summer type sweater anyway. If I get it done by early summer. But so far, this is two days progress and for me, this is speedy. ¡Andale!

Somewhat Cowl and Calla:
I usually find otu what sort of yarn I need and then try to find a much cheaper version, but this was a birthday splurge and I bought the Blue Sky Silk and Alpaca yarn called for. In mocha. The Man says I think that brown is the only colour in the crayola box. He's right. I do wear alot of browns, beiges, chestnuts, taupes, etc...but brown looks good on me! It's a soothing earthy colour! SO sue me! Anyway, if you look at my recent knits you'll see that I am TRYING to branch out. Not with this one though.

I also bought some Blue Sky Cotton for Calla, not realising that it was a worsted weight yarn and the pattern called for DK. When I wrote to the kind ladies at kpixie about my dilemma, they suggested a pattern to me and said they would send it free of charge.
That is awesome, it's like being rewarded for idiocy! Just kidding. It was an honest mistake on my part and they obviously have a very deep committment to making their customers happy. Which is good, because I spent over $100!

Here are my beautiful, beautiful yarns. I almost am afraid to touch them!

   

As for what yarn to use for Calla, I know that Fig&Plum is using Debbie Bliss Cathay, and the alternative yarn in the pattern is Dale of Norway Svale...but you know...maybe I will just wait until I have finished something before I worry about this.

Also working on:
Embossed Leaves Socks - 1/2 way through the second sock
Top Secret from Knitty - boy done, halfway through second sleeve. Problem?
When I started it, Melissa was in IN, now I think she is moving to Southern California.
When will she need this??

Family members who read this - I am deeply sorry. I know you probably want to know what I am up to, and you are not interested in the least in knitting. This has sort of turned into a project blog though, so bear with me and I will trying to pepper it with other interestings things that are happening!

MAY 6  NEW YORK, NEW YORK (UPDATED)

So: New York.

To make a long story short, my father was going to be in the city and very much wanted to see me, for we had not seen each other for a very long time. That is a long story too.

I am not much of a picture-taker, usually I whip out the camera if I see something weird. As I age I will probably be upset with myself for not capturing and immortalizing precious moment on film...but...OH WELL.  Having said that, other than a few pictures taken at dinner (which, come on, this is the internets! can't put those here!), the only other NY image I have is a chalkboard I saw on Sullivan St. How can you resist dining where a celebrity MIGHT eat? Who knows? MAYBE the food is good too!
(We actually did not eat there...but if I were to go back I may. Vegetarian tapas sound mighty tasty!)

   

As for my day, I took a train to the city very early. This is saying quite alot. I have never taken a train by myself before, especially to the city, so I was terrified.
But : not so bad! I met my father near Penn Station and we strolled to Whole Foods in Chelsea for coffee. That was pretty much our day - strolling. Not that there is anything wrong with that! To me, that is a perfect day. So we strolled through Washington Square, we strolled to PurlSoho where I purchased $80 worth of knitting notions and somehow NO YARN. I wanted some of the Manos yarn, but since I did not have a specific use for it in mind, I could not justify it.  We strolled to an Indian Buffet for lunch, we strolled through several little art galleries (these I should have taken pictures of...chairs made out of neckties and dollparts!)

We strolled to Central Park where we climbed up high on a granite outcropping and talked for quite a bit. The whole day was spent catching up, although when you go for so long without seeing someone, there is only so much that you can, or even realise you want to say, in just a day.

Then we met up with my stepmother and we strolled to their lodgings where I was to wait in the cafeteria while they took an exercise class. What was I waiting on?
THE MAN! He was drivingg to the city to meet us all for dinner. This is Something.
The Man H*A*T*E*S the city. But he did it for me.

So we ate at a nice little Greek restauraunt for dinner and called it a night.
It was a veryspecial day and I should probably try to see my father more often. But if it does not happen in NYC, that will be ok.

You see, I have come to the conclusion that I am not a city girl. AT ALL.
Too crowded, too close, too many, too much. That's the only way I can describe it.
I may go back for a short day trip with a friend (for yarn! or cupcakes!), but I promised The Man that I would not make him do that again...and I don't think it will be a hard promise to keep.

APRIL 29   FOR ALL THE HATERS...

My Crocs!

     

I have a friend who has forbidden me to buy these shoes. The Man will not be seen with me when I wear them. But, I tell you what...they are so worth the ostrasism. <--is that a word? if i am being ostrasized, is it blatant ostrisim? ostrasization? hmmm...

They are like walking on clouds. And despite the fact that those socks are a wool/cashmere blend, my feet felt breezy and cool all day long.
I want a pair in every colour!

Now I know what you are thinking. Sarah, they are so FUGLY!
Not so, my friends. Don't wear them as shown above. Actually, you probably don't even want to wear them in public at all, but if you do, wear them under a pair of pants (flared, boot-cut), where you can only see the tips of the shoes peeking from beneath your pants! Trés chic!

Tomorrow I am off to the city to visit with my dad, reports to follow!

APRIL 18     PERFECTION PERSONIFIED (THE PERFECT PIE)

Well, to be honest, calling the "perfect" might be a bit much, but it's pretty damn close as far as I am concerned. I love how this looks especially pretty from the back. When do I have an occasion to wear a shawl? I no idea.  I should probably give it away, but I don't know to whom.

I wish it would have turned out a bit bigger, at least big enough to wrap all the way around my shoulders, but I didn't want to fiddle with it too much and screw it up.
Also, if I were to do the edging over, ( I did the picot instead of the rickrack), I think I would chain at least 5 instead of 3 to make the little points more noticeable.
I did this halfway through and I could really tell the difference.
All, in all I really enjoyed knitting this; I am (almost) sad that I finished it!

Here is the finished Perfect Pie Shawl in all her glory:

      

  

Perfect Pie Shawl
Pattern: Interweave Knits (?)
Yarn: Knitpicks Shadow (Vineyard)
Needles: US 10
Finished: April 16, 2006

APRIL 16     INTRODUCING...THE MATCHA-INA!

...not to be confused with "the macarena"!
I have started the Orangina...I have admired this pattern for a long time but was so intimidated because, well, it was a garment, and I have been avoiding them for a long time. Too many fitting issues, too much responsibility! But the instructions are so easy! Even I could not screw this up!

I am using the yarn called for in the pattern, Rowan 4-ply cotton in a lovely mossy sea green called cooking apple (an early bday gift from The Man) The colour reminds me a bit of zen in a cup - green tea, thusly she has become the Matcha-ina! (The Aquafina was already taken or else I would have named her that.

I am being so careful with this one, I am actually swatching. I have never
swatched before and don't really know what I am doing, but I THINK I got the gauge spot-on and so I am doing this in a medium with a little extra ribbing at the bottom to make it a bit longer. I want it fitted, but belly covering!

Yarn:

   

After doing the swatch, it looks like the lacework is really...open. I see that a lot of ladies wear this with a neutral coloured bra underneath, but for modesty's sake I think I might wear a little tank top undernreath it or something. It looks like it might get a little breezy through there!

   

  Also working on the "Embossed Leaves" socks from Interweave Knits Winter '05 issue. I did not watch for these. SO they are a bit roomy. If I had known that, I would have bought different coloured yarn so I could give them as a gift. As far as I know, I am the only person in the world who likes pumpkin/rust/1970's tupperware orange coloured things:

   

In other (still more knitting) news, I have finished the Perfect Pie Shawl and it is blocking. Informally. On two pieces of cardboard covered with a sheet and pinned with thumbtacks. But still. Blocking!

Swatching! Blocking!
I think I am a real, honest-to-goodnees Knitter!
(let me bore you with pictures of my grandkids now and start talking to you about my bad hip and how in my day, a loaf of bread cost a dime...)

Right now I am loving Grey's Anatomy. I used to think "pfft! Hospital Shows...B-O-R-I-N-G! But this is a fun show to watch, and I think I am falling in love with Sandra Oh...

APRIL 06     UNDER THE WEATHER

...so I have not had much to say lately. Or rather, I have, just no energy to say it. Thus another regurgitation of recent goings-on chez Woman, Man & Cat.

First pair of socks are finished! Feast your eyes upon these sexy footies!

   

Socks
Pattern: basic sock pattern from internet
Yarn: Knitpicks Simple Stripes, Vineyard
Needles: US 3
Finished: April 2, 2006

They are a little funky in that I didn't make the first one long enough, and so in adding an extra inch, the striping got messed up...so they are not exactly identical. I'm not picky.  I'm lazy!

I joined an online candyswap a month or so ago, see what I got for our first swap! (The theme was regional, mine came from Holly in Ohio)

  

In honor of Spring, I bought some strawberries. I have been hearing for ever that if you sprinkle strawberries with a little sugar and some balsamic vingar and let it marinate (macerate?) then the result is like SUPER STRAWBERRY FANTASTICO! Like strawberry ¹⁰⁰ !

And they totally are. So I did what any rational thinking person would do: I made vanilla flavoured cream and a poundcake to go with them!
The pound cake recipe is pretty simple, but instead of the vanilla extract (which I did not have for some reason...which is weird...how can someone NOT have vanilla extract??), I added fresh vanilla bean.
I only had one slice because, well, 1 1/2 cup of butter? 3 cups of sugar?
Not such a good thing for this almost-30-year-old bod.
The resulting dessert?

  

And then alot of other stuff, but I don't remember any of it.
Oh well, that will teach me to wait so long before writing.
These have been outside our hourse for the past week. No matter how many times I see them, I never get tired of them. I love Spring!

  

MARCH 25   OPERATION EARWIG

Monday was a wonderful, blessed, MUCH NEEDED day off. The Man and I slept in, ate a late, luxurious breakfast and then at the early hour of three in the afternoon (haha) we hit the road to our ultimate destination : Lord Stirling park.
He had been there in the early autumn and seen a maple syrup making demonstration and thought that I might like to see the park. I was hoping for some spring-like weather since it was, after all, the first day of spring – but no such luck. It was pretty chilly and the trees were all pretty barren. No blooms, buds or blossoms for me.

Still, it was so nice to get outside and walk and …while I don’t want to say “stretch my legs” because I can do that any day, anywhere, it was nice to stretch my…soul? No, that sounds cheesy. I don’t know. It was just nice to breathe fresh air and see things other than a computer screen and four walls.

SO we had a nice little stroll along the trail, and here are some things that we saw:

    
this picture does not do this poor tree justice as I am not the world's greatest photographer - this was a tree with these thin golden leaves that were just shivering and shaking with every puff of wind. It made me cold just looking at it.

    
I don't know why but for the longest time I have been obsessed with earwigs. I find them both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. I actually at one time thought that they were a sort of made up fairy-tale of a bug.
SO - isn't this the greatest (scariest) sign ever?
- As an aside, the second greatest thing ever is that my favourite web comic artist ever may make a shirt with THIS lovely earwig design on it-
   

We stayed til late in the afternoon and the only way we were able to find our way back is because some enterprising brownie troop left us a trail of popcorn (no- that really did happen!) In the park's museum store the man bought me this little guy:

   
It was so sad! He was in a markdown basket advertised as "bird with no song". He is an Audobon Society birdie that is supposed to chirp and tweet but I guess his motor is broken...That is ok though! He and Saitoh became fast buddies!

SO it was a relaxing, yet somehow invigorating day off.  Been working on the same old boring projects for over a month now...thank goodness they are drawing to a close! More on that later.

I had started writing here to document my goings-on ...just so I would have a record at some later point in life I guess. Or maybe just to leave a mark or an imprint. I don't know. I like to see what I have done, what I am thinking, what my goals are written out in front of me. I like looking back to see what I have accomplished, what I was thinking while I did it, and what still needs to be done.
But the purpose is totally lost if I get lazy for a few weeks and then vomit it all out in 10 minutes in such an abbreviated, summarzed format.

I need to be more diligent about this or the point is totally lost.
  Reminder to self for next time: First finished sock, ever - Holistic Health Fair, Candy Swap, crocheting amigurumi, baby blankets, SnB in my home, Sideways!

MARCH 14    LOST AND FOUND

Well! I had a MOST INTERESTING thing happen tonight!

I am not much of a jewelry wearer. I am not really one of those people who matches their bangles/ear-bobs/etc. with their outfits, but I do have a few things that I wear all the time - a few silver hoops and usually a silver pendant on a silver chain around my neck. If I ever take it off, I am usually in the bathroom, so onto the back of the toilet it goes. Can you see where this is going? Especially for the lady who is constantly dropping stuff in the bathroom? Yeah. So.  A few weeks ago I notice that the marcasite pendant that The Man gave me has gone missing. My first though is "OH NO I AM AN IDIOT! IT IS FLUSHED!" And judging from the conversation that ensued afterward I am pretty sure he had quite similar thoughts.

Fast forward to a conversation The Man and I had last week. We are sitting on the couch watching a movie and out of the blue he says while gesturing to the Pie Shawl on the coffee table "hey, how come you are not working that thing you were knitting anymore?"
I had been tired and low on energy but that really lit a fire under my ass! I thanked him and picked it up and have been working on it more dilligently ever since.

Now to the casual observer, neither of these instances have anything to do with one another...right? On the contrary...
Tonight I am working on the shawl and as I am unwinding some more yarn I see a silver little gleam poking out of the ball:

   

And I am thinking "what the HELL?" and so I dig it out with my needle:

   

And so I think holy crap! I DIDN'T flush it down the toilet! I! ...wound it up...in...the...yarn...? Wait a second...that just doesn't...make...sense...

I am not too swift, am I?

Thank you, The Man. If I wasn't such a slow, lazy knitter I would have found your suprise sooner. And thank you for finding it for me - I can't wait to hear the story behind it!

And the shawl? Well I think I've got just two more sections to go, plus the edging:

   

The ipod is fixed. I have no clue what was wrong with it, but after listeing to a piece on NPR about some research they did in Sweden that says that people give up on their devices after having fooled around with them for 20 minutes - I put in 4 hours on a Satuday night to fix it. I didn't want to be just another Swedish statistic.

I keep hearing about gocco. I want a gocco machine! I want to save gocco! I am such a lemming.

It made me sort of make up a joke in my head...

Q: How many DIYers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: One to blow the glass to make the bulb, one to make a ceramic light switch cover, one to knit a hemp yarn eco-friendly light bulb cosy, oh and then you have to have 12 or so to blog about the whole thing ...

I jest, but that's really the way it is...one or two people blog about something, then it catches on and then all of a sudden it's a phenomenon...
that's what happened with me and knitting. I admit it. I read about all these cool chicks knitting all this crap and blogging about it and I thought "I want to be the cool knitting chick too!"

But it doesn't stop there! I want to be the cool spinning chick! The cool dyeing chick! The cool chick who has a yard full of her own sheep for shearing! The cool gocco chick!

It never ends...

MARCH 10      SPRING IS SPRINGING

...while I can not say with all confidence that Spring has SPRUNG, it is certainly in the process of SPRINGING! I am so excited!

It used to be, when I lived in Florida that my favourite time of the year was autumn. It spoke of cooler weather, a lessening of the oppressive heat (and perhaps) the humidity. Granted, it would be cool for maybe 1 month out of the year, but it was something to look forward to.

Now autmn signifies the oncoming SNOW and ICE and BONE-CHILLING, JOINT- ACHING HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD winter. I hates it!
So when I walked out the door this morning and saw that a light rain had fallen and the trees had little buds on them and after my 20 minute walk I discovered my hands and neck were too warm for gloves and scarf...I knew it was A Good Thing.

I had a friend whose birthday always fell around the Spring Equinox, this time of year always makes me think of her. She was an avid gardner, she had the wildest, most tangled wonderful garden I had ever seen. If we had not met, I probably would not be as crafty and DIY-y as I am today.
Sometimes I really miss her. This year I think I am going to plant something special in her honour.

I seem to be having Bad Device Karma.  First my DDR pads (the new ones arrived THANK GOD!) now my iPod mini. It was working fine...when I remembered to charge it, but all of a sudden! I charged it up yesterday and then went to play something and POOF! All of my music is gone! All of my playlists are gone!  So I go to uploadthe music back on and for some reason IT WON'T!

Now I have to be honest here...like many things I buy, I did not quite thoroughly read the directions/instructions. More like SKIMMED them. If that. But I really don't think it is something I did. At least I do not think so...
And from all the horror stories that I read, Apple does not really stand by their products, so if I send it in they are going to charge an exhorbitant amount of money to fix it.
I just don't know what to do.

MARCH 9      THE THINGS

How are Things with me? Well, let's just say that it seems like I am busy all the time but I never actually DO anything. No, I don't consider gainful employment DOING SOMETHING. Even with TWO jobs, it feels like my 12 hour working day is spent doing A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING.
At least of note anyway.

Have watched some interesting films lately:
Three Extremes - Very VERY good. Three short films all somewhat similar in that they all have disturbing themes but all done so very differently. My favourite? Dumpling, I think Fruit Chan is the director...never heard of him, but FRUIT? I think his piece might be my pick just because he's got such a great name. Edit: I looked up some of his other works, how can you not love a guy who directs a film call "Public Toilet"?
I'm so tired I have already forgotten the other movies I have seen, and one of them was just 15 minutes ago, so that's pretty bad...

This Saturday I will be doing a presentation at an elementary school about proper nutrition for children and what natural supplements and foods are good for hyperactive/attention deficit disordered children. It's for a yearly thing the school does called Peace day and I nearly freaked out when I heard that it might be televised. Luckily not - no Peace Day on channel 14 this year. Groovy.

FEBRUARY 20   ODDS N ENDS

I have quite forgotten what it is to work a 60+ hour week - these past 5 months have really spoiled me!  It is hard waking up early and trying to fit all my spare things (knitting, exercise, ebay) into the few hours I have before and after work. All I want to do is sleep. Still - my body just needs to adjust...it might take a few weeks but I did it before (somehow) so I can do it again!

The library is closed for the next few weeks, but I checked out enough stuff to tide me over. VERY disappointed with this:

It just had nothing in it that I would be interested in making. I still love looking at the cover though, at least it LOOKS fun.

I have started my yoga; I really like it although I have no grace or balance - I keep falling over when I attempt the more difficult poses.
I took a yoga class with a friend once and from that one class I took away one thing that I try to apply to the rest of my life. "When you breathe, if gets easier". Now I am paraphrasing there, and you can really take that to mean whatever you like, but I think it is pretty much true. I just remember hinging forward at the waist, my hands dangling at my sides, the back of my calves straining...and breathing. And with each breath out I could stretch longer and farther until eventually those useless knee-length dangling hands were wrapped firmly and confidently around the backs of my ankles. I never attended another class and I really didn't learn much else, but I think that was a pretty valuable lesson regardless.

Valentine's Day was quiet this year; the Man and I promised each other no gift giving so what we did instead was pay for each other's sushi dinner. I like the idea of Valentine's Day I guess but when you are with someone you love everyday anyway, it just seems dumb to have one day set aside out of the whole year for romantic love. I think I would rather send out little handmade gifts and cookies to friends instead...except that I didn't do that either because I was too lazy.

Movie Review Time! Last night I watched Happiness of the Katakuris.
Wow. This film is definitely not for everyone, but I think I know a few people who may like it. If you are familiar with director Takashi Miike's other works then you will be surprised that there are no gory extreme cinema moments (well maybe one or two, but they seemed to parody the genre more than anything else) there are no yakuza, there are no vengeful female protagonists...it seems very different from anything he had done but it is unmistakably his nonetheless. It is sort of a dark comedy, it is also a musical - with totally untrained voices, but their spirit and enthuisiam makes up for it to the point that it is one of the best musicals I have seen, and there is even some weird claymation stuff that is actually pretty funny. It is definitely very random (that weird j-pop man/woman on the t.v comes to mind), but if you can keep an open mind and you like the bizarre/ridiculous then you may very well like this film. I loved it.

In knitting news I am almost done with my first ever (practice) sock. I can't pick up stitches for some reason. I mean I can. but after I do, when I knit, my knits look like PURLS. So I ripped the sock back to the picked up edges and purled instead of knit, and by JOVE my pulrs look like KNITS. So it works, but I owuld love to fix it so I don't have to do it backward. In the meantime I have ordered some fingering weight sock yarn from knitpicks so I can make my real sock and I don't have to use this crappy cream and sugar crap anymore.
Not so lucky with the Perfect Pie Shawl...after reaching the third section I can see that my mistakes are of such a magnitude that they are un-ignorable, so rrrrr-rrrripped the sucker I did. Now I have to start all over.
Dammit.

FEBRUARY 13    SNOW DAY

Recipe for a snow day, but first the day itself:

   

Yes, this past Sunday I was snowed in, apparently it was some record breaking amount. But to me ANY amount of snow is still alot of snow so I can't really tell the difference. Needless to say I was stuck inside the house and could not get to work. I shouldn't be working on Sunday anyway, right?? Let's not tell God.

SO I decided to sleep in a bit and treat myself with brunch! Not just any brunch, mind you, but PANCAKES. And not just ANY pancakes, but OATMEAL pancakes. No, I've never made them or eaten them before but I had oatmean and oat flour and felt like experimenting. Plus, I just don't like big ol' fluffy pancakes - I like 'em soggy. Hell, I like ALL my food soggy (dumplings, french fries) I like my steaks so rare they are bleeding.  I wonder what that says about me that I like my foods undercooked. It probably says that I am going to get salmonella or botchulism or something!

So, I found a basic recipe at allrecipes, and then modified it a bit. I don't remember exactly what I took out or added (obviously I will never author a cookbook), but here 'tis.

The syrup is pictured merely for presentation, I didn't use it, and I didn't butter them. I used raw honey. I switched to raw honey because it is totally unprocessed - it still contains the pollen, propolis, enzymes and it very very good for you...however if I start finding wings and antennae then I might have to give it up. Still, it tastes incredible. Just imagine really creamy speadable concentrated honey - SO GOOD!  And the pancakes? Imagine if you took oatmeal cookie batter and fried it instead of baking it? Yeah.
Good stuff.

FEBRUARY 11   I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY

Sometimes it is an emotional response, other times it is physical/environmental...but whenever I get scared/upset I get really, really chilled, I start to shake uncontrollably and my fingertips grow ice-cold, turn deathly white and lose all feeling. This also happens when I am just plain freezing and might not have anything to do with my emotional state. This has especially happened alot since I moved up north - for example I will get into my car after work on a winter's evening and within the span of a few minutes, my ringer finger will change from a healthy piggy-pink to a pasty gothy white. And lose all feeling. And stay that way, FOR HOURS. It is very inconvenient. And weird.

And then I read about Raynaud's Phenomenon.

I stumbled across some literature on it sometime last year while I was researching something totally unrelated and it's like a little lightbulb went on in my head. "Ah ha!" it said, "You have a REALLY WEIRD disease!"
I am not a hypochondriac and I am in realtively good health. I am not one of those people with constant sinus issues, I don't have digestive problems, I don't even fall prey to seasonal allergies. Sure I might have a severe mental disorder lurking in there somewhere but since I keep from killing people, then I'll probably never have to agressively treat it.
Ha. Just kidding. Really.

But I truly TRULY belive that I have Raynaud's. All those weird symptoms totally fit. But the really weird thing? About 3 months ago I started taking 30 mg of CoQ10 on a daily basis- because well, to make a long story shore, I believe it is really really good for you. But ever since then these Raynaud's "attacks" have been very rare. I think I cured myself!

I just read this and found it interesting.
(click the quote to read the rest of the article)
"The human cuteness detector is set at such a low bar, researchers said, that it sweeps in and deems cute practically anything remotely resembling a human baby or a part thereof, and so ends up including the young of virtually every mammalian species, fuzzy-headed birds like Japanese cranes, woolly bear caterpillars, a bobbing balloon, a big round rock stacked on a smaller rock, a colon, a hyphen and a close parenthesis typed in succession."

In other words, we are ignorant that we think rocks and punctuation marks are"cute"?

Ok, yes maybe, cause isn't this the cutest ever? \(^_^)/

In other news:

ELYSE SEWELL PUBLISHED HER BOOK!

FEBRUARY 10   JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE

I am having some "issues" lately. There are so many things that I dabble in, but because I spread myself so thin I never really get any GOOD at ANY of them. Take for example beading and jewelry making. I can't even competantly wire wrap a bead. A single bead! I can't even make a good loop! Is it because I try it once, get frustrated and give up? Maybe. Or maybe someone just can't be good at EVERYTHING. Or can they?
Alot of ladies I read about manage a family, knit, sew, bead, bake AND work. I want to be able to do all that! Well, minus the kids, of course.
Even if I could do something like this, I would be happy.

But I think I embark on these new endeavors sometimes just so I have an excuse to shop. Not that I don't have a box full of beads already.
I'm just not inspired, see. I have a thing for the faceted irredescent czech beads that look like they broke off your your old aunt Maude's million year old antique table lamps. Maybe some funky bracelets. I'll czech with Aunt Maude.

Ok, getting back to my competancy issues - I have started my first pair of socks! It is a mishmash of patterns, and in the combining of them all I forgot which size I was making, so I think the leg is a small, the heel is an extra large and so maybe I will compromise and make the footie part a medium! Ha! Welll this will be a practice sock, because after all I will have to BUY some sock yarn when I start my real pair.

   

On the vegetable front - I have not been experiementing much lately, although I did fix some really good stuffs. (Notice how people from the South fix meals? ANd people everywhere else just cook them? And sometimes before they start the process, they're 'fixin' to fix a meal? it's really something isn't it?)

The first is just a vegetable soup. You can find it on the Weight-Watchers website even, but you don't have to be counting calories to enjoy it.
Just sautee some onions, garlic, carrots, and celery til they soften, add three cups of broth, some sliced cabbage, a can of diced tomatoes, some italian seasoning and a dash of red pepper and boil for about 15 minutes. The add one diced zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes more and that's it. Soup for days.

The second is a just something simple for if you want something like lasagna but you don't want all the work or fat and if you can admit to yourself that it is really nothing like lasagna but it is tasty and filling so you're ok with it anyway.  

Slice one eggplant and lightly salt and stack in layers between paper towels on a plate. I don't know why people do this, but they do, so I do too. While the eggplant is stacking and paper-toweling, sautee some onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil in a big pot til soft. Add a few handfulls of sliced mushrooms and 2-3 cups of spinach and let it cook down. The dump in a big (BIG!) can of crushed tomatoes and let it all cook down into a sauce; season to taste. In the meantime, slice up a zucchini.  Get a casserole dish and schmear some sauce on the bottom; line up a layer of eggplant on top of that, and then a layer of zucchini, and then top with sauce. Reapeat layers, ending with sauce til you use it all up and bake in the oven at 350 for maybe 30-45 minutes. Or until it's done. You may be skeptical, but if you are trying to avoid carb rich pasta or fatty greasy cheese, then this is really reayy good. And even if you aren't, it's still good!

Lastly, I got my order from piddleloop yesterday...and because I was their "101th" customer I got some free goodies as well!  I am not posting a picture of what I got because some of these are gifts and I do not want to ruin the suprise for whoever I decide to gift them to.  But wow, this stuff is really amazing. So unique and really high quality. I love it!

Well, I guess that wasn't the last thing. Just read an incredible book by Kazuo Ishiguro, entitled "Never Let Me Go". One of the book's running themes is how people are told things without really ever being TOLD, so by the time they come face to face with the reality of the thing they are already used to the idea becuase they've subconsciously always known.
So throughout the whole book this horrific thing is always hinted at and always sort of right in your face but by the time you realise the enormity of it you are desensitized to it; so that something that should be impossible to grasp and shocking to ponder just becomes ...another thing.  It's very creepy without being scary at all, and sometimes it's even sweet and a bit funny. A very well written book, this is definitely going on the "send to mom" list!

FEBRUARY 5  IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...

I take it back, I totally ♥ this pie shawl pattern.  Normally if I get too frustrated with something I will just give up, but with knitting, for the past year since I have started, it's been very different.

I remembere when I first cast on - I didn't have anyone to show me and all I had were the pictures from SnB. (which, not to knock SNB, but I am not so great following illustrated instructions). I searched online til I found some knitting videos and I stayed down in the January-chilled basement watching this 15 second clip for 2 hours straight til my numb brain and frozen fingers "got it".  And it's been that with just about every project I picked up...the kitchner stitch for FM bag, the pfb for the clapotis, you name it - I struggled with it.

It turns out that in doing the Perfect Pie shawl, I am doing something like short rows. Or maybe they aren't "like" short rows - maybe they just ARE short rows. I practiced with some scrap yarn so I could stop tearing the crap out of my good stuff until I "got it". Whoever said practice makes perfect...well, they weren't perfectly right, but they were definitely onto something. Why do I say that? Well, despite the fact that I've pretty much gotten the hang of the pattern so far, there have still been a few "OOOOPS" moments. But you know what? I am not a perfect knitter, and I am definitely not a TYPE A person. So there are a few inconsistencies in the pattern...it's an intricate lace shawl...who will even notice???

   

Ok, that was long and boring, but I write this for my benefit and and I do not really have alot of people to talk about this sort of stuff with. I guess I sort of talk it out here til it makes sense. Plus - no one gets this - I want to be able to look back and know that I was doing something at some point in my life. I want to be able to know what exactly it was. Is that weird? I don't think so. Does it change anything? Probably not. Does it validate my existence? Well...maybe. Maybe not in any immediate sense...maybe I guess it is just a record, somewhere, showing that I existed and was doing something. It is a hard feeling to think that maybe you don't exist. And probably a silly one...but if you can do something to alleviate that feeling, why not?

/thus ends the philosiphosizing.

Oh! And look! Something I made is being used by someone!

   

FEBRUARY 2 THAT *MUMBLE MUMBLE MUMBLE* GROUNDHOG

I don't know exactly how it works but I hope that darn groundhog either didn't see or saw something so that spring is near.  Never mind that fact that if you ask anyone local to here, they will say that for the past month we have been having very "spring-like" weather.  Baloney!
When this girl goes to bed wearing two pair of socks, sweatpants, two shirts, fingerless mitts, and a bathrobe, I dare you to tell me that I am sleeping in "spring-like" conditions. Hmmmph!

Well...I have finished Midwest Moonlight!
Behold her in all of her moonlit, luminous midwest bible belt glory!
(ok, so it's really mid-day, flourescent lighting east coast glory, but you know...details, details)

   

Midwest Moonlight
Pattern: Scarf Style
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, 3 Skeins Fjord (20% wool, 80% cotton)
Needles: US 6
Finished: January 31, 2006

Despite what my knitting partner might say, I really enjoyed this pattern.  She found it quite repetitive and boring, but I think that's why I liked it...toward the middle I memorized the pattern so that I didn't need to book anymore and I was even able to finish it up during a Tuesday Night of NCIS and Supernatural...with no mistakes!
Because of the fiber blend (less wool, more cotton) I think this is nice and warm without being bulky or too...puffy? Maybe? I don't know, but I have already gotten tons of compliments on it!

I have started the Perfect Pie KAL using this yarn:

  

I am already encountering some snags. First, I have never worked with a lace weight yarn. This is my second year knitting and I have mainly been using worsted weight type stuff, so this has a very very different feel to it. Everytime I handle it I am afraid it will rip...it is very delicate, and well..lacey (duh). Secondly, and most importantly I am already completely flummoxed and I am only ONE ROW INTO THE PATTERN! Is there something wrong with me? Am I "M1"ing wrong? I think I am?
But the pattern is so weird...cast on 76, row one : ssk, M1, p2, turn (!!)
and then do the same thing some more? Am I working the same stitches over and over again?? I will really have to think and study on this because I spent 2 hours on it yesterday and I only have a tangled mess to show for it...

JANUARY 26   CALL TO ARMS...OR NECKS...OR HANDS

I have got so many things in mind that I would like to make but I am running out of recipients.

Sisters - would you wear any of these? Have friends who would? Need gifts for your...stepmom, mother-in-law, professor or someone?

Anthropology inspired capelet
"bramble" scarf
legwarmers

And oh my goodness, look at these two:

   

Last but not least, I want to make this for myself, it's The Great God Cthulhu cell phone cozy! (ok, not really but it's the first thing I thought when I saw it...see the resemblance?)
   
   

Oh, and in other news, this is how I know I might be getting too old for DDR...

Dance Dance Revolution at 765 schools (via boingboing 1/25/06)

JANUARY 25   TEE VEE

I TRY not to watch alot of television (although admittedly I do rent alot of movies).  I remember there was a time that I did not even OWN a television set! Right now there are only about 3-4 shows on that I have to watch ("have to" as in a feel very very sad if I miss them) Top Model for the campy-ness and escapism, Smallville (ever since I started watching X-Files I need a show that is just too wonderfully out there, after X-Files, it was Buffy, now it is Smallville), Battlestar Gallactica ( I don't know why I like this show, sort of like Smallville, only more serious, more dramatic) and...NCIS.

Those of you who know me well may be suprised at this; I normally don't go for mystery-detective-criminal investigation shows ( or shows with any basis in reality for that matter), but there is something about this show that is so very engaging. It's the characters - they interact like real people, they are annoying and endearing and this makes for a very engaging show. I watch just to see how they characters connect with each other from week to week - whether or not the crime gets solved is somewhat irrelevant to me.

My favorite?  Abby!

   

She's not all cheesy, characteristic Goth girl - as a matter of fact she is bright, cheery, optimistic and totally adorable. I love watching her, I personally think she steals the show every week!

But enough about the tee vee, onto more intellectually stimulating topics.
Like food! Or yarn!

Ha!

Just kidding.  Right now I am reading The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood.  This is another example of thoroghly engaging characters.
The women she writes about aften seem remote, inaccessible and at first that makes them hard for me to relate to as a reader. Hard for me to get into their heads and put myself in their shoes, I guess.  But then I realised once while reading another one of her books that that is exactly how I can come across as well - very reserved and hard to connect with.
But I am not!  With her characters there is so much boiling beneath the exterior and is it is worth it to give these characters a chance; by the end of the book you can really see so much of yourself reflected in them.
But anyway! This current book is a re-telling of a greek myth involving Odysseus and his wife, from her point of view.
I have loved Greek Mythology from the time I was 9 years old, so this is a subject that has always fascinated me, especially to have it re-told from a woman's point of view. I have always thought the ladies got the rotten end of the deal.

 

JANUARY 24    K-A-W-A-I-I !!

I found this pic at cuteoverload.  There are just no words.

   

Also, I found a link to this site: Spiral and Circle.
It could be because I am rapidly approaching my 30th year, but I am becoming increasingly drawn to cute-ness. I literally started drooling when I saw this:

  

Kitties dressed up like vegetables!! Does it get any better than this??!?!

JANUARY 23

I am so excited! I have joined my first Knit Along!

    

Other than that there is not much going on 'round these here parts.  Still working on Midwest Moonlight, although the end is in sight - I have gotten down to my last ball of yarn!
In other knitting news, I purchased A Head for the blocking of hats and well, because no house is a home without a head on the mantlepiece.

Just read a very haunting novel: Sleep, Pale Sister, by Joanne Harris (authoress of Chocolat).  This was atmospheric, gothic to the extreme and disturbing, very, very different from Chocolat. The similarities were there of course, but I think it was mostly in the writing style and character studies rather than story- wise.  I think I am going to try to get my hands on everything this woman has ever written!

Trying out a gluten-free baking mix tonight; not that I have any wheat or gluten allergies, but I received a sample bag from Namaste Foods so I figured I would try it out and bring it to work tomorrow to see what people think.  To one batch I think I will add chocolate chips, and to the other I will add some raisins and cinnamon, we'll see what happens!

JANUARY 20  WHY I LOVE NPR

Today NPR ran a piece on http://www.pandora.com , created by The Music Genome Project.

A snippet from their site:

"On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like. "

At Pandora you type in a song that you like and the site puts together streaming audio of other "like" songs based on that particular song's attributes.  I chose Hooverphonic.  So what did they come up with for me?

"Kick in the shin", by Adult
"Wrong", by Everything bu the Girl
"Wallflower", by Switchblade Symphony
"Barabas", by Hooverphonic
"Casual Match", by Suzanne Vega
"Push it", by Garbage
"Walking in My Shoes" by Depeche Mode
"Dissolve", by Switchblade Symphony
"I am in Love with you", by Imogen Heap

After awhile the site froze up and the page timed out, I am thinking that from the NPR exposure alot of people are looking at it right now.
But I was impressed at the list they came up with for me, especially since they really don't group like with like in the usual fashion.
Very interesting!

 

JANUARY 19  WE'VE GOT THE BEET (& TURNIP!)

Just a short note to remind myself later and to brag about the little supper I had yesterday (no pics, sorry).

Week 4 of Vegetable Dinner Theatre presents!

****Beets and Turnips!****

Ok, it's not really at all the stuff of dramatic dinner theatre ...speaking of dinner theatre, that reminds me of My Second Favourite Movie Ever, Soapdish.  Remember when Kevin Kline's character was doing dinner theatre in a diner and he had to scream his lines so that the deaf elderly folk could hear him?  Oh, that is the funniest movie ever...

But I digress.  Drizzle beets (about 4 small ones)with olive oil and roast in a 350º oven for 45 minutes. In the meantime peel and quarter turnips and boil on the stovetop til a knife slides through one easily.  Drain VERY WELL (or else your end product is SOGGY!) and mash with some milk, butter, salt and pepper.  In the OTHER meantime, roughly tear the beet greens and sautee in skillet with some olive oil and minced garlic.
You beets should probably be done noe; remove from oven, slip them out of their skins, quarter them season with salt and pepper and pile it all on a plate...the mix of textures and colours should look lovely.

Dig in, take a standing ovation and then your character gets written out of the script as a coma victim because of your affair with the bitchy diva star of the show!

In other news I have added some depth and variety to my exercise routine, I think my body was getting used to the DDR.  I think I proabably have the trimmest ankles and the shapliest calves in town but it's not doing much for the rest of me.  I have added some pilates as well as started doing Yourself!Fitness again.

   

I purchased this for my PS2 last year after hearing raves about it and then promptly forgot about it.  I drug it out again at the beginning of the week and let me say I can literally feel my ass getting whipped into shape. Seriously - this Tuesday I did the 30 minute lower body segment - lots of squats and lunges - and here it is Friday and I STILL can't lower myself to sit comfortably!

JANUARY 13 FRENCH MARKET CRAP

If you will recall I have made previous attempts at this bag with disappointing results. This time around it is finished, however I do have to say that I am just as disappointed. It is shapeless and one handle is longer than the other and I don't think it would be able to hold anything; the sides are so low things would just roll out of it.

Here is before felting (note bag to chair proportions, this thing is gargantuan):

   

And after:

  

SO I wash my hands of this damn bag. C'est fini.

While it was cold out, I decided I need a hat, so I used this basic pattern and somehow came out with something that looked nothing like it.  In staying the spirt of the project (the spirt being" not following instructions) I added a pom-pom instead of buttons. Pom-poms are fun!
The world would be a better place if more people wore accessories with pom-poms.  

  

Wouldn't you know it, now it's 60 degrees out and no one needs a hat...

JANUARY 11 2006 ADVENTURES IN VEGETABLES

So, as one of my before-New-Year's-Resolutions, I resolved to cook with one new vegetable per week, or one vegetable I had previously thought I did not like.  I meant to document my conclusions ( I know, I know..adventure! excitement! VEGETABLES!) but I have been lax in doing so. As I best recall, it went a little like this...

Week One, Subject BRUSSELS SPROUTS:
My only other run-in with this mini voodoo head shaped veggie had come from a nursing home which I used to work in and would get my lunches for free. And as I think, with all such establishments, they boil the EVER-LOVIN SHIT out of the vegetables rendering them virtually unpalatable.
As I have read up on brussels sprouts, boiling them too long can leave them mealy and sulphurous...no wonder I did not like them.

My solutions? Briefly roasting them in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt, and then cook up a bit of a glaze to pour over them. The recipe I found called for some apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard and maple syrup, and after all that you know what? I think I just don't like brussels sprouts.

Grade F

Week Two Subject GREENS
Despite the fact that the man may have a few odd theories (our microwaves and alarm clocks are killing us??) I have to admit that I do quite like Dr. Andrew Weil - I think he does give some pretty solid nutritional advice.  He is a big proponent of greens, and since I had already run out of vegetables that I do not like, I decided to move into uncharted territory, starting with collards and kale.  As a solid lass with some southern roots you'd think that this was a dish I had tried at least once...alas, no.  Dr. Weil suggests serving them with pasta and beans, here is my impromptu recipe.

Greens with Beans (&pasta)
Cook up about half a box of your favourite pasta ( I use lentil bean pasta with is full of fiber and protein). While this is cooking, heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan and add about 3-4 cloves garlic, minced and about one half an onion, diced.  Saute til soft, add a 3 cups total torn collard and kale leaves and saute til wilted.  Dump in a can of cannelini beans, heat through, and season to taste. I added a dash of red pepper flakes, but that is up to you.  I found this a little bit disgusting, to be truthful. I think it was just too much stuff all in one dish.  The greens were pungeant, garlick-y and very flavourful and with a firmer bean they probably would have bean delicious. The pasta totally detracted from the dish. Since I had so much ( I cook for an army!) I added some marinara sauce from a jar and believe it or not, the dish was transformed into something quite yummy and filling.

Grade C- (but extra credit brought it up to a B+)

Week Three Subject BOK CHOY

I really had nothing specific in mind for last week; inspiration struck me in the form of bok choy while I was browsing the produce at the farmers market.  No, seriously - it literally STRUCK ME! The attendant was walking by and spraying the vegetables and while he was lifting up the bok choy he turned around and smacked me in the face with it!  An accident, I am sure. "I'll take it!" I said.  After all, my face was already on it!

Bok choy is basically cabbage so I figured it was probably pretty bland, I think it's what they use as fillers for spring rolls and things of that nature.
Bo choy. Isn't that just fun to say?  Bok choy. Bok choy. Bok bok bokbokbok!!

Anyway! I do not know how to make spring rolls, so I decided on some fried rice. I made about a cup of brown rice and while that was cooking I stir fried garlic, onions, ginger and carrots and celery in a little bit of olive oil for about 3-4 mins, then I added about a cup of diced bok choy and stir fried that about 2 mins.  I then added a cup of sliced cremini mushrooms (they were all I had), and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. After another minute I added the cooked rice and a few generous shakes of soy sauce, et voila!   (As an aside I just hate it when people shout "WAH-LAH!" when they think they have done something clever...

  

GRADE A-
Could have used some peppers and maybe some shrimp or something, otherwise, pretty tasty!


Bonus Project VEGETABLE STOCK
So, here I am left over with all these vegetable odds and ends and I am loathe to throw them away , so I thought I would try my hand at some home-made stock!

On hand I had lots of celery tops with leaves attached, lots of carrot butts, some extra bok choy, some onions and a lone potato. I roughy chopped them all, threw them in a pot with a bay leaf, some fresh rosemary and some peppercorns, added some dried herbs like parsely and oregano, covered with water and simmered for an hour.

Let it set in the fridge overnight and then in the morning strain the broth from the vegetables and there you have stock!  It probably would have come out better with the addition of some tomatoes or peppers, but for a first try it was not at all bad. The best part was that I finally got to use he cheesecloth that I bought six months ago.  Fun!

This week stay tuned for the amourous pairing of turnips and beets!

JANUARY 9 2006

The French Market bag is "blocking" even as we speak. I use the term loosely, because actually it is doing no such thing.  It is situated upside down, draped over a box on a towel in the bathroom because I am hoping to give it some sort of shape; as it is now it is floppy and shapeless and ...weird feeling.  And let me tell you what, hot wet wool is not one of the finer things I have smelled in my life. Imagine a moldy, flatulent farm animal and that about covers it.  This is going to be interesting to see how this turns out, I will update this with pictures later. And when I say "interesting" I really mean either a. aggravating, b. mortifying, or c. horrifying.  By tomorrow I will know for certain whether or not I just wasted 3 monts of my life on this project.
Again.

In other news...GO VOTE FOR ME!!
I entered a contest on a whim with a hastily written haiku ( I am trying to win a subscription for a month's worth of hand-made goods) and somehow, made it to the top five. I am thinking that there must have been only 5 submissions...
You can vote here, I am haiku #1 :

http://www.homeofthesampler.com

JANUARY 5 2006

Well, my New Year did not start out auspiciously, what with the blatant breaking of just about every single one of my resolutions.  A dozen donuts? It's ok, because I am a WOMAN having my WOMANLY TIME.  Skip the exercise? No Prob! I am having WOMANLY ISSUES! No cleaning? Ok...well you got me with that one. I have no excuses there.

When one of my sisters and I were younger, we used to talked about products we would interview that we could not live without, if ever "THEY" were to ask us.   Super models? TV GUIDE? Joan Rivers? I have no idea who "they" are and I do not think she did either, but we were determined to be prepared should the question ever arise.   I have had a good deal of time ( I will be 30 this year! eeek!) to test out and become loyal/disgusted with quite a number of items, so here is my top 10:
Joan? Are you reading this???

(please note, this are not all beauty related products, but they do somehow all promote to my overall well-being)

10.   Palmers Cocoa Butter Products
  - Yes, their utilitarian packagingis ugly does nothing to spruce up your bathroom, but their lip balms are the best AND cheapest I have ever used (and I am a lip balm connisseur, people).  Their lotion smells just like chocolate and is awesome as well.  I will probably continue to buy new things just to try them, but I will always go back to Palmers.

9.    Johnson's Bedtime Bath
-Again, there are more expernsive products out there, but this one really does the trick.   The scent is just sooooo soothing.  It is supposed to be lavender and chamomile, but I think it must be the "subtley-muted-for-kids" version, because no child I know would LIKE the scent of lavender.  Also: mounds of bubbles. Fun!

8.   Bare Escentuals Mineral Make-up
-Hate the feel of gloopy, glunky foundation on your skin? Too lazy to take off your make-up at night? (Don't lie! You know you are!)  Then this is THE STUFF.
I think it's made from like rocks and stuff , it's powdery and light and you use it as foundation, cover-up and powder.   Just make sure you moisturise your face first so it doesn't get all flaky. **BONUS PRODUCT** They make beautiful eyeshadows that are so much fun to play with, my favourite is "Bare skin", I think it would be a universally flattering colour!

7. Earth Science Almond Aloe Moisturiser
-Remember how I said to moisturise? This stuff is wonderful; I have skin that is on the oily side (although as I get older it is not so bad) and this stuff has never broken me out, not once. It has also got an SPF of 15, so it's great to slap on every morning before you go out!

6.  LUSH Coalface Soap
-Although I cannot afford to always have this on hand, this is the granddaddy of all facial washing washes.  Facial washing washes? WHat does that mean?  I don't know, I forgot the word I was looking for. Oh yeah - soap!  It just doesn't seem "soapy", so you will probably forget that it is soap too.  Even though it is good for oily skin, it does not make your face dry or tight and it also has scrubbies in it so you can exfoliate at the same time! At first the grey suds may gross you out, but they grow on you.

5. Alba Shave Cream - Mango Vanilla
- I don't remember why I tried this originally, maybe for the novelty?
It's not a gel or a foam; doesn't puff up on your skin like Redi-Whip.
It is a rich-yet-not-too-thick cream that smells gloriously of sweet mangoes and cream and what's better, your can see your skin through it as you are shaving, that way you know what you are missing.  I am so glad that I tried it - I have been using it ever since!

4. Jason Satin Soap Body Wash, Chamomile
-A friend told me once that she liked the smell of my place when she visited; it smelled like "me" (read: LOTS of nag champa) Now I am not so sure that I want to be known as the lady who smells like a headshop, but is that really such a bad thing? I personally think nothing smells as good as slightly smoky, sweet, heady incense. And even though this soap is supposed to smell like chamomile, to me, it just smells faintly of nag champa. LOVE!!  It is also very sudsy, and has no sodium lauryl sulfates, which is good for people who have very sensitive skins.

3. Avalon Organics Aloe-jojoba Fragrance Free Shampoo & Conditioner
-My hair is insane.  It is definitely "Jersey" hair.  Big, puffy, curly - I could almost be in that "Married to the Mob" movie.  Unfortunately for me I spent most of my life in Florida, where all of those factors grow exponentially because of all the humidity. This shampoo and conditioner calm the frizzies, soften the coarseness and untangle the knots gently.
Why unscented? Well because that is the only formula they have this in, but that brings me to my next bonus:

2 1/2. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
-There is not product around that I recommend more than these guys.
I have been buying from them since December 2003 and I have never looked back.
There is nothing that they can do wrong. I love their attitude, their product, and they are all around wonderful folks. They specialise in "formulating intriguing, compelling body and household blends with a dark, romantic Gothic tone", and their perfume oils smell divine. What does that have to do with the fragrance shampoo I mentioned above?
I scent it myself with BPAL's oils! Genius! I know!
Their site is a little daunting at first, but my faves are Dorian,  Morocco,
Antique Lace, Dee, Voodoo, and Dana O'Shee.

2. Victoria''s Secret Very Sexy^TM Bras
-Now The Man accuses me of false advertising because of this bra, but I don't care.  It makes me feel not so "itty bitty". So there.

1. Dance Dance Revolution
-Ever since this game was introduced to me (5-6 years ago? Is that right?) I have been intrigued. As my dear dear friend can attest to, at first I was AWFUL! I just plodded around on those pads with no clue what the hell I was doing. BUT IT'S SO MUCH DAMN FUN! I have gone through countless numbers of dance pads, I own just about every version ever made (except those damn imports) and I still can't get enough. I have never EVER gotten bored with DDR. Why is this on the list at all, you ask?
EXERCISE I TELL YOU!! I try to do this for a half an hour every day and I tell you what: I might not be tiny, but if not for this game I can guarantee you I would probably be considerably larger! This, I can say without a doubt it my mind, is my A #1 product recommendation.

And Joan? TV Guide? You can quote me on that.

JANUARY 2 2006

Happy New Year!  Mine was spent with the Knitting Line^TM quietly nursing Pomegranate Martinis and watching indie films.  
Because I am just pretentious like that, see?  
Don't judge me!  At least I am not one among the insane throngs who join a smelly drunken crowd in awful weather waiting for a gumbo pot to drop.
And besides, everyone knows that pomegranates are chock full of antioxidants.

My first project of the new year? Cleaning up my yarn? Aside from the fact that almost every surface in my house is covered with the stuff, my cats room is particulary bad.  Yes, my cat has a room of her own. No, I see nothing odd about that.  In the before picture note the yarn in 5 separate bags, one basket, one toolbox, one laptop bag, one priority mailbox and stuffed under a piano bench as well.  Where is the piano?? Maybe under some yarn??

   

Well, after working on it for about two hours, I am proud to say that I have found a practical and quite aesthetically pleasing yarn storage solution. I am also proud to say that this time I did not pooh-pooh the instructions and I had less than 5 pieces left over.  GO ME!  PROGRESS! I do not know why the picture is so blurry.  This was way after the martinis...

   

Some Works-In-Progress!

First we have the Clapotis.  She is going to take me years.  This is just before finishing section 2.  By the time I am done I will no longer have the use of my hands:

   

Second we have Sesame, she is probably going to be too big or too small or too short or too long or missing an arm or back or front.  Because she is my first sweater, see and instead of knitting her all at once like an intelligent person I keep stopping to knit other things like a person with ADD and by the time I get back to her I have forgotten what row I knit last, what section I am on, what project this is, etc:

    

Lastly we have TopSecret. She was supposed to be a Christmas gift.
Maybe by next year - HAHA!

    

My new years resolutions?

• fit into my size 6s ( I have accepted I will never see 4 again)
• add yoga to my fitness routine
• try to do something nice for my mother once a month
• continue to do what I love even though sometimes I suck at it
• have more patience with those who don't always understand me
• learn to sew
• learn fair isle knitting
• go to the City at least once, by myself

I think that is a good enough start, and I can always add to it, wish me the best of luck!


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